Imprisoned and Released

The apostle Paul, after outlining the components of the armor of God in Ephesians 6, turns to the
power of prayer and asks readers to pray for him. We read:
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

What a great prayer request indeed!  The apostle Paul, imprisoned as he was, asked the church at Ephesus to pray that he would open up his mouth and speak "boldly."  The barriers we encounter in this life do not have to prohibit the boldness of the believer - we can shine the light of Christ no matter where we are.  The boundaries of the prison wall were no match for the truth of the gospel shared through someone who decided to overcome what could hold him back.

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In our humanity, we can see the life and love of Christ expressed. In 2nd Corinthians 4, we can read:
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
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.

Gary Farley is a former director of missions for an Alabama Baptist association, the Pickens Baptist Association, which includes Aliceville, the site of a Federal prison that opened in 2012.  Farley wanted to plant a church there, according to an article from The Alabama Baptist, appearing on the Baptist Press website. He relates that the warden gave him some direction: "He told me that church works better if you use people from the prison rather than carrying church in from the outside," and he added, "He told me there would be folks on the inside who can do church really well."

He followed the advice - the story states:

"I began to try to get the women involved in planning the services," he said. "They were able to provide quality music and we drew on their talents to start the church."

One of the musicians said she had some friends who were being transferred in from Tallahassee who could help out too. One of those was Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother who had served more than 20 years of a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense.

"Alice was really good at putting together dramas," Farley said. "I found her to be just a charming lady and a very committed Christian. She wrote and directed a passion play and put it on several times. It was just amazing."

The services have grown, and it's reported that over 500 inmates attend the services each week in the prison.  Alice Johnson, well, she's not there anymore.  Maybe you're familiar with her story. The article says:

In 2016, Johnson published a piece on her plight. Her family and job life had been good for years, but in 1989 she and her husband divorced, and not too long after, her youngest son was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Under the weight of that burden, Johnson made some poor decisions, she wrote.

"I want this part to be clear: I acknowledge that I have done wrong. I made the biggest mistake of my life to make ends meet and got involved with people selling drugs."

She was involved passing messages between distributors and sellers - she received a death sentence in 1996, even though it was her first offense.  The story points out that laws have changed since then.

Earlier this year, she was released.  The Alabama Baptist story on the Baptist Press website states:

...Johnson's case caught the attention of reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who got an attorney on Johnson's behalf. She pleaded Johnson's case in a meeting with President Trump, and he commuted her sentence. In early June, Johnson got a call from West, who told her she could go home.

"God is always on time," Farley said. "If she had been released earlier, she might not have the platform she has now. She understands that and that God's plans are always smarter than ours."

And, as he points out, God brought people to Christ in that prison and used Alice Johnson in the process.

We can consider a number of principles.  First of all, we recognize that we have a chance to shine where we are.  And, consider that an imprisoned man wrote a significant portion of the New Testament...that's right, Paul considered himself an "ambassador in chains."  Think about Chuck Colson and how God used him to start Prison Fellowship while a prisoner.  Or, Mary Kay Beard, who was inspired to start the Angel Tree program to minister to families of prisoners while imprisoned herself.  In these instances, you see people whom God used in spite of their past.  You see, we're all imperfect, and we may be suffering, but if our hearts are right and repentant, we can see the glory of God expressed through our lives.

In addition to considering where we are, we can also think about whose you are.  If Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we can know that we have been brought into His family - we are a child of God.  And, that can give us confidence as we face the challenges of this world.  If we wear His name, we can contribute to His fame.

So, we think about where we are and whose we are.  We can also consider what we are to do.  Our mistakes, our sins, can inhibit us from following His purpose, but we can overcome our past in order to abide in His future.  Now, we have to possess a willingness to be changed by Him and get our hearts in the right place.  But, if we surrender to His will and seek to please Him, we can see Him display His glory marvelously through our lives.