So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! Now you will grow like a new plant. Surely you know this is true. I will even make a road in the desert, and rivers will flow through that dry land. Isaiah 43:18-19
I have had moments in time where I thought, "Oh, I need a 60 second replay to keep this mess from happening." A moment of inattention that caused a car accident (before cell phones and email too!), a "funny" comment that caused pain where none was deserved, a forgotten appointment that meant more to someone else than I demonstrated it meant to me, a call not made, a note not written, an apology not made.
How much more challenging for the incarcerated person who has 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to rethink the series of decisions and lack of decisions that lead to so much pain, not only for themselves, but for folks who love them, are related to them by blood, marriage, shared children, shared parents. friends. And what about the financial chaos stirred for those outside? Without a relationship with God, how can they possibly survive all the time on their hands! All the thoughts in their heads! And as awful as replaying the mistakes they have made, the what-ifs, if-only's, thinking about the looming tomorrows is certainly no peaceful refuge.
So this verse is a good one to share with your loved ones because they are so desperately in need of hope, a real hope, a true hope that does not depend on the "fairness" or "compassion" of any earthly party A hope that is available right now in any place or circumstance.
Something has to change FOR THEM or just being released from prison or jail will not bring about a new outcome. We can model healthy change when we embrace love and hope and a new life for ourselves.
I have had moments in time where I thought, "Oh, I need a 60 second replay to keep this mess from happening." A moment of inattention that caused a car accident (before cell phones and email too!), a "funny" comment that caused pain where none was deserved, a forgotten appointment that meant more to someone else than I demonstrated it meant to me, a call not made, a note not written, an apology not made.
How much more challenging for the incarcerated person who has 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to rethink the series of decisions and lack of decisions that lead to so much pain, not only for themselves, but for folks who love them, are related to them by blood, marriage, shared children, shared parents. friends. And what about the financial chaos stirred for those outside? Without a relationship with God, how can they possibly survive all the time on their hands! All the thoughts in their heads! And as awful as replaying the mistakes they have made, the what-ifs, if-only's, thinking about the looming tomorrows is certainly no peaceful refuge.
So this verse is a good one to share with your loved ones because they are so desperately in need of hope, a real hope, a true hope that does not depend on the "fairness" or "compassion" of any earthly party A hope that is available right now in any place or circumstance.
Something has to change FOR THEM or just being released from prison or jail will not bring about a new outcome. We can model healthy change when we embrace love and hope and a new life for ourselves.
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