“Being locked up was the best thing that happened to me. Being locked up kept me from being locked out of heaven.” He was practically whispering, I had to lean to hear him but his quiet, windy words blew through my soul with incredible power.
He stood before my team of young women and alongside his own team of middle-aged men. We couldn’t have been more different but sometimes God likes to speak in antonyms to get our attention.
Freedom House. A place for ex-convicts to stay as they transition from jail back to civilian life. A place where this man’s chains were broken with such ferocity that he was compelled stay and help others like himself.
His voice may not have proclaimed his story with much volume but his being screamed God’s power and glory. God likes to operate in opposites.
I couldn’t help but notice that they were all in desperate need of a feminine touch. Even at a glance I saw a smattering of stains, half-buttoned shirts and past 5 o’clock shadows.
In a strange way, it made me smile. We may have only been a presence, a few extra listening ears for a few moments but we may have been the first young sisters full of love that they’ve seen in a while if at all. God works so wonderfully in the inverse.
My heart burst with emotion as he told of the vision that turned him to Christ. The way he described the brightness of the room and Jesus appearing before him was reminiscent of Paul’s conversion in Acts.
“It wasn’t a dream. I was fully awake and laying on my bed. It was like I was in a trance, completely consumed by Jesus.”
Boom! That’s all it took. The final straw. Now, standing before us was an ex-alcoholic turned preacher.
I sat in wonder as man after man walked up to share his story. The pain in their eyes was profound and almost palpable. I felt like if I stepped a little closer, I would be swimming in their sorrow and remorse.
For more than an hour we listened and offered up our gentleness to fill in the spaces where they poured out their hurt. We left them some nourishment and went on our way, not knowing if we would see them again this side of heaven but knowing we had a taste of what heaven might look like.
All of us was entirely contrary to all of them yet, somehow, we’re from the same world. Somehow, we worship the same God. Such a beautiful disparity!
I challenge you today to see God in the divergent. I challenge you to connect with someone completely other than you. See what they have to offer you. See what you can offer them. Bring unity to Christ’s body.
God is a God of all things even the most unlikely of interactions. God is a God of the different.
