We worry about how our incarcerated loved one will fair in the world. Will they be released only to be suckered in by the same attitudes, addictions and angst that underpins many bad decisions? But for many of us the larger fear is what happens to our grand-children and great-grandchildren. For as bad as recidivism and unproductive lives are, the worse thing is: will it become the heritage for those who come after?
It is not nonsensical or paranoid when we are losing increasing large numbers of our children to self-will-run-riot lifestyles that devolve into self-pity, underemployment or unemployment, loss of self-respect, loss of physical and mental health and poverty ground down with legal fees and self-medication.
So where is there hope for beloved babies? In Isaiah 44:3 The Lord says, “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.” In short your children and grandchildren and their children have God longing to teach them what they need to know to fulfill the purpose for which they were created.
Maybe you tried hard to instill in your child the values and faith that you value and things have gone very badly anyway. I know this is hard, but losing your faith is not helpful for yourself OR your family. And assuming that you know better than God what your loved one needs, while tempting beyond reason, is never helpful. Suppose your child, while in prison, develops a world-rocking, family-changing faith that would never have happened in any other way? Would that make your tears, your fears, your embarrassment, your frustration small in comparison? For all of us, incarcerated or of the free world, the ultimate well-being of our children is not about jobs or education or status or wealth or respect from the world. And I believe that jails and prison are full of folks who are in the business of re-evaluating choices they have made and attitudes they have embraced.
Will everyone in prison have an epiphany of faith that will make them the next Billy Graham or Nicki Cruz? Absolutely not. But the point is that each and every one of them and each and every one of us are given the free will to choose and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to free us to turn our face to God. And each and every one of us can be reborn to be the Hands and Feet of God, freed forever from our most potent demons. When our souls are the driest, God stands ready to pour water on our hearts and bring forth springs of hope and comfort.
It is not nonsensical or paranoid when we are losing increasing large numbers of our children to self-will-run-riot lifestyles that devolve into self-pity, underemployment or unemployment, loss of self-respect, loss of physical and mental health and poverty ground down with legal fees and self-medication.
So where is there hope for beloved babies? In Isaiah 44:3 The Lord says, “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.” In short your children and grandchildren and their children have God longing to teach them what they need to know to fulfill the purpose for which they were created.
Maybe you tried hard to instill in your child the values and faith that you value and things have gone very badly anyway. I know this is hard, but losing your faith is not helpful for yourself OR your family. And assuming that you know better than God what your loved one needs, while tempting beyond reason, is never helpful. Suppose your child, while in prison, develops a world-rocking, family-changing faith that would never have happened in any other way? Would that make your tears, your fears, your embarrassment, your frustration small in comparison? For all of us, incarcerated or of the free world, the ultimate well-being of our children is not about jobs or education or status or wealth or respect from the world. And I believe that jails and prison are full of folks who are in the business of re-evaluating choices they have made and attitudes they have embraced.
Will everyone in prison have an epiphany of faith that will make them the next Billy Graham or Nicki Cruz? Absolutely not. But the point is that each and every one of them and each and every one of us are given the free will to choose and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to free us to turn our face to God. And each and every one of us can be reborn to be the Hands and Feet of God, freed forever from our most potent demons. When our souls are the driest, God stands ready to pour water on our hearts and bring forth springs of hope and comfort.
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