Prison with a Purpose

2nd Corinthians 4:
8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. The familiar Scripture says that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose - that means that even though we may face adverse circumstances, that God has a purpose.   Even in a place that may be regarded as uncomfortable or uninspiring, we can know that God is still at work - in us, through us, and all around us!2nd Corinthians 6 says:4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God,
As we continue to remember Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship and "Breakpoint" speaker, I thought about how there are other great men of God who had prison in their life stories.

The apostle Paul was placed in prison - and, while he did nothing wrong, the Lord ordained for him to be there to essentially protect him from those who would want to take his life...he understood what it meant to be an "ambassador in chains".

John the Baptist was in prison for a time - and there was most certainly a purpose in that, even though it was not readily apparent.

Daniel was imprisoned - in a den of lions - and God was glorified as he was protected, winning the approval of the king!

And, Chuck Colson went to prison - do you know why?
Colson also became involved in the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP or CREEP). At a CRP meeting on March 21, 1971, it was agreed to spend $250,000 on "intelligence gathering" on the Democratic Party. Colson and John Ehrlichman appointed E. Howard Hunt to the White House Special Operations Unit (the so-called "Plumbers") which had been organized to stop leaks in the Nixon administration. Hunt headed up the Plumbers' burglary of Pentagon Papers-leaker Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in September 1971. The Pentagon Papers were military documents about the Vietnam War which helped increase opposition to the war. Colson hoped that revelations about Ellsberg could be used to discredit the anti-Vietnam War cause. Colson admitted to leaking information from Ellsberg's confidential FBI file to the press, but denied organizing Hunt's burglary of Ellsberg's office. He expressed regret for attempting to cover up this incident in his 2005 book, The Good Life.

This took place before he accepted Christ in 1973, and he plead guilty to leaking the information and spent a few months in Montgomery in the Maxwell Federal Prison...it was there that the plight of prisoners touched his heart - God used that prison experience in a powerful way that is flourishing today.   The Prison Fellowship website says that:

But Colson never really left prison. Haunted by the desperation and hopelessness he saw behind bars, Colson knew he had to do something to help the men he left behind. In fact, he had a promise to keep.

So, here we have a litany of great men who were placed in prison - sometimes God's purpose was not clear in the midst of it, other times, in hindsight, His hand could be plainly seen.   So, today, you may be in a circumstance that you regard as a prison - a place of misery, or perhaps just a place of being stationery or stuck - well, even in that apparent "prison", God is capable of bring glory - He set Chuck Colson free, but in his heart, he never left.   Paul spent productive years in captivity.   But, even though outwardly our lives may seem to be held captive, God can set us free in our hearts - free to serve Him no matter where we are.   And, if we don't understand the road to nowhere we're travelling on, we can can still hold to God's hand and know His peace and comfort.