A Date with Jesus…In Prison

Today I
went to a youth prison. I went to sing some songs, flash a smile or two, and
show the youth there the Love that runs in and through me. It was a fabulous
time…I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

 

After
ministry, I was sitting in the back of pastor’s truck and I was listening to my
ipod. I put it on shuffle and God totally showed up (I do that a lot, just to
see what God wants to show me). The song “Go Together” by Jillian Edwards came
on. I don’t know her motives for the song, but it was a song that was speaking
volumes about my relationship with the Lord. There is a line that goes, “Paint
to a canvas. First date to nervous…I want to go together with you.” The first
thing that came to mind was about how before we started singing and hanging out
with the youth at the prison, I was nervous. At the time I thought it was a bad
thing. But the Lord showed me, through that lyric, that it was normal. That the
nervousness was like that of a first date… 

 

Like a
first date, thoughts race through your mind. Butterflies fill your stomach. You
wonder, “How is this going to go?” “Will he or she like me?” “Should I put my
best foot forward, or just be myself?”

 

I had
similar thoughts today before doing ministry with the adolescent boys and
girls: “how is this going to go?” “Are they going to make fun of me?” “Is what
we prepared going to be enough to bring the Kingdom?” “How can we make this
more beneficial?” I had butterflies, and I was nervous about ministry for a
minute.

 

But, Looking
back, thanks to Jillian’s song, I realize that really I was on a date with my
Jesus. And I would have to say that it went really well. I saw Jesus in the
smiles of those boys and girls. I might have acted a fool, but I was being
myself. I knew that if I smiled, if I showed them Love, I couldn’t lose. They
danced along to “Pharaoh, Pharaoh”, “O, Happy Day”, and the “Cupid Shuffle”. I
was myself before my King and He was faithful to show me Himself. Jesus wins!

 

I suddenly
have an assurance and desire that I don’t want to go anywhere without my Jesus.
I want to know Him better. I want to be so near to my King. I want to go
together with Him. I want to know that I can walk into a dark place and find my
Beloved there. I want to look at criminals, prostitutes, widows, orphans, and
see the Lover of my soul. Today, I saw Him…on our date.

 

I am my
Beloved’s and His desire is for me.