( Pages 76 - 90)
I was in jail. In the mid 1990s, as I sat in the cold, colorless cell in the Norfolk City jail, I tried to imagine how I was going to feel spending time there. Thankfully, I was only in there a couple hours-- to preach. My wife and I had moved to Norfolk in 1990 to establish Calvary Revival Church; during our early years, we started the prison ministry, Jonah. While sitting and thinking in that cell, I realized that God was utilizing each prisoner’s jail experience. In other words, for each person there, God had a “designer prison” – one that would work for their good. In a sense, God is crafting our lives the same way. Even in the midst of your circumstances, “God is preserving you, fixing you, building you, and using your limitations to prepare you for the coming phases of your journey” (McBath, p. 76).
Mile Marker: Can you identify a few of the ways God may be making your limitations serve as a “designer prison” in your life? Can you identify some of the ways God is reaching out to you, using your losses and issues to build your friendship with him?
Remembering The Words of a Friend:
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28
Week by Week
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In retrospect, I can see how God has often placed me in designer prisons. Obviously, I did not know they were crafted just for me while I was in them. However, I see the truth this Chapter conveys regarding my former prison experiences. What I was seeing while I was in my prisons/limitations was intelligence. For instance, I would often go through the exact same situation regarding dealing with a certain type of individual until I go it right. This cycle lasted for several years. Finally, I got to the point where I was tired of trying to get out of it my way, and I decided to trust God through it. When I gave it to God, I finally passed the test. The one thing that allowed me to have this new insight on my prisons/limitations was that it was too much of a coincidence for the same scenario to happen to me over and over again. I figured someone was orchestrating this, and I finally figured out it was God. Now, if someone else was in my prisons/limitations they may have thought, “Hey this is not that bad …” but for me it was difficult. But, the fact that God has designed my prisons for me conveys to me want Bishop wrote, “God is preserving you, fixing you, building you, and using your limitations to prepare you for the coming phases of your journey” (McBath, p. 76). And, I think this is one of the major redeeming points about my prisons. It’s that while I am in them I always become more sensitive to God. and, God used that time to impart a little bit more of Himself in to my life.
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