In Prison

Yesterday was my first time to go into our ladies prison here. I have actually never been in any prison...wasn't sure what to expect. TV isn't exactly the best picture of what real life is like! I joined our ladies jail ministry team, something I have been pondering for some time, and yesterday was the day! We go in once a week for two hours to do a Bible study with the ladies there. I wasn't teaching yesterday, just watching and listening.

The variance of lady that was there was staggering. The youngest I met was 22, but she looked even younger than that. My partner said she had met girls as young as 17. I was trying to remember names, so kept looking around into their faces. They looked just like everyone else, anyone I would have passed on the street or met in the store; however, they made choices that landed them in a maximum security prison, dressed in red striped outfits, with no control at all over their own lives. My friend who was teaching, on Elijah, stressed how God provides for us, how important obedience to Him is in our lives, and the choices we have to make for ourselves. She mentioned in there that they could have freedom even behind bars and maybe more freedom then if they were out, if they allowed sin to keep them in bondage.

I was so nervous at first, but then I was having a hard time being quiet, wanted to talk, wanted to move around and meet them, listen to them, and encourage them. That time will come-I am already thinking about what I will be teaching and am asking God what they need to hear.

The thing I heard the most, the greatest need of their heart, was an understanding of God's grace. Nothing they do or don't do will get them to heaven, will change their lives, not turning over a new leaf, trying to live differently then they know, trying to free themselves from bad relationships and drug addictions, because the change they need needs to come from the inside not the outside. They don't understand repentance, responsibility for what they have done and lived, and how great their need is for dependence on the Savior. If all could get a handle on the truth of God's grace, and His enabling power to make us into what He wants us to be, how different we would be, and how different we would be towards everyone else.

I went to prison yesterday and spent two hours locked behind really heavy doors with guards watching through windows everywhere, but I went in free, and I came back out free. Lord, work in those ladies' hearts to bring them to saving grace and eternal freedom in you, and you alone!