God Was Always There
Last evening I met with a group of folks for a dinner meal together. There was about 25 men and women. It was great to meet new people and to renew acquaintances with people I have known for along while. The striking thing about the meeting was the kind of people that were drawn together for this event. Many had been in prison for a long while.
Many of the rest had never even driven by a prison. The closest they have been is a movie or maybe the TV program, Prison Break. But oddly enough we were all alike.
When I look back to a familiar story of the Children of Israel and their journey through the desert for 40 years I see a powerful example of us all. They walked and lived for 40 years with a sea of sand surrounding their homes. They kept a dream alive of one day being “free” and finding a “promise land”. It is the story line of Exodus. It is the script of great movies. It is also a core factor in Christianity and Judaism. It is the hope of ever Ex-Offender – freedom someday. Redemption for a people that God loves so very much is the heart of the account.
The one striking thing for me was the fact that God was always there in their midst. But so much of their 40 years living took for granted the obvious – He was there. Many didn’t appreciate it and lived the same way they had always lived. They blew it from the very beginning and made terrible decisions that would not allow them to ever see the Promise Land or realize their own vision for their family.
But God was always there.
The men and women that I ate with last evening are so much the same as these Children of Israel. God had(has) a plan for them. They had(have) a dream and plan for their own life. We collectively have a plan, dream and even a vision for our lives. Yet we all have missed the best because of personal decisions we have made. At that point we are so much like the people of God that walked so far and so long through the desert. God was there with his love and care – but they never fully appreciated it and chose their own means and ways to lose it all.
As I pondered the group last night and realized how much we are all the same – ex-offenders and non ex-offenders.
In a very powerful way last evening I saw something else. The new dreams and goals that the people had last evening were beginning to all come together. The ones that had never been to prison were committed to helping the ones that had been in prison – to never go back. The ones that had been in prison were committed to receive help and make a new life on the outside.
It is a modern day Exodus to say the least.
Now you may never even know an ex-offender or you may have never been in prison. The closest you have been is a TV program. But you are so much the same… with some of the lost goals, failed dreams and very real disasters you have known in these years you lived. You can identify in a big way.
One thing to remember is that God has not changed at all. He is the same God that provided for the millions wandering across an endless expanse of desert. He fed them. He led them. He was always there.
God loves you the way that you are… where you are… because you are. Why not talk to Him to today?
~ Pastor Murray ~
Many of the rest had never even driven by a prison. The closest they have been is a movie or maybe the TV program, Prison Break. But oddly enough we were all alike.
When I look back to a familiar story of the Children of Israel and their journey through the desert for 40 years I see a powerful example of us all. They walked and lived for 40 years with a sea of sand surrounding their homes. They kept a dream alive of one day being “free” and finding a “promise land”. It is the story line of Exodus. It is the script of great movies. It is also a core factor in Christianity and Judaism. It is the hope of ever Ex-Offender – freedom someday. Redemption for a people that God loves so very much is the heart of the account.
The one striking thing for me was the fact that God was always there in their midst. But so much of their 40 years living took for granted the obvious – He was there. Many didn’t appreciate it and lived the same way they had always lived. They blew it from the very beginning and made terrible decisions that would not allow them to ever see the Promise Land or realize their own vision for their family.
But God was always there.
The men and women that I ate with last evening are so much the same as these Children of Israel. God had(has) a plan for them. They had(have) a dream and plan for their own life. We collectively have a plan, dream and even a vision for our lives. Yet we all have missed the best because of personal decisions we have made. At that point we are so much like the people of God that walked so far and so long through the desert. God was there with his love and care – but they never fully appreciated it and chose their own means and ways to lose it all.
As I pondered the group last night and realized how much we are all the same – ex-offenders and non ex-offenders.
In a very powerful way last evening I saw something else. The new dreams and goals that the people had last evening were beginning to all come together. The ones that had never been to prison were committed to helping the ones that had been in prison – to never go back. The ones that had been in prison were committed to receive help and make a new life on the outside.
It is a modern day Exodus to say the least.
Now you may never even know an ex-offender or you may have never been in prison. The closest you have been is a TV program. But you are so much the same… with some of the lost goals, failed dreams and very real disasters you have known in these years you lived. You can identify in a big way.
One thing to remember is that God has not changed at all. He is the same God that provided for the millions wandering across an endless expanse of desert. He fed them. He led them. He was always there.
God loves you the way that you are… where you are… because you are. Why not talk to Him to today?
~ Pastor Murray ~
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Sunday, November 19, 2006
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