A WINGED DISTRACTION

A few days ago, I went outside to the yard. They called it at 8 o'clock in the morning, so it was nice and bright. The yard consists of a pretty decent-sized grassy area to walk, jog, and on which to play soccer. It also has a basketball court and an area where you do pull ups and all sorts of tiresome stuff. My friend and I planned to do pull ups and to walk around. The whole yard is surrounded by two razor fences. Between the two razor fences there's some gravel to walk on (only for the guards). Beyond the second fence, water surrounds the whole prison, and beyond the water there are open fields. Well, when we were walking I saw this little bird on the gravel in-between the fences. The bird caught our attention because she seemed to be talking to us, so my friend and I started talking back to her. She was flapping her wings and doing some kind of dance. My friend was asking if he can sacrifice her as a sin offering, to which I said a big "NO!" She talked and danced for a long time. A little while later we decided to go back and do more pull ups. We got to the other side, and as we started doing pull ups someone came up to us wanting to know what we were looking at near the fence. I told him about the cute, little bird who didn't know what she was doing. I gave him her description, and he knew exactly what kind of bird she was (shows my lack of knowledge in ornithology [and I may have asked around what the study of birds is called just for this letter]). “A Killdeer”. "Did she spread her wings and walk?" he asked. I said, "Yes." "She has an egg somewhere near, then. She was just creating a distraction so that her egg could be safe. That's what they do." I said, "What? I thought she was just a little cuckoo in the head." "She got you, didn't she?" he replied. I turned to my friend and asked a question to which I already knew the answer to: "Did we just get tricked by a cute, little bird?" We sprinted to the other side, where the bird was. She was still there, dancing and talking, creating a distraction. So, we started looking for the egg and sure enough, there it was lying near the fence. It was so close that if we wanted we could have touched it, but we decided not to. A few minutes later we bid farewell to the courageous and caring mother and her baby and headed back for the barracks. 

That evening I called my sister and told her about the bird and her baby. After the call I went back to my cell. It was dark and lonely. So, I reached for the most familiar and restful thing I have: my Bible. I just opened it and stared at it for a minute. It was then when my LORD Jesus spoke to my heart. He said " Remember the bird? Remember how she got in harm’s way to protect her offspring? She learned that from her Creator. She learned it from ME. I did the same for you. When you were lying in your filth, helpless and defenseless, close to the fence, I spread my wings on the CROSS, taking all the condemnation coming your way on me so you can have life. Now live for ME." I blinked. I was humbled and joyful. For HIM to see me mended, HE was torn. And mended I was, because of HIM. 

"He forgave us all our sins, cancelling our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; HE has taken it away, nailing it to the CROSS." - Colossians 2:13-14.

 "He saw me to the bottom and loved me to the skies" ---- Tim Keller. 

 

 

Half-A-Decade

I recently completed five years of being incarcerated. Five years ago, because of my sins, my comfort was taken away from me. My freedom was taken away from me. My life was taken away from me. Five years ago, my sins were unveiled and my hypocrisy was revealed. Five years ago, I decided that I was done running away from Him and decided to run to Him. If someone would have told me that five years ago I would be in prison for the next 5 years, I would have fainted. When I had woken back up, I would have said, "nothing good can happen in those 5 years." Little did I know that my God had different plans. When He said in Genesis 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome”, He really meant it.

The last five years haven’t been exactly the most luxurious or the most comfortable years. It hasn’t been a shower of good news. It hasn’t been a season of all happiness and all smiles. But it has been a reminder of faithfulness. Not my faithfulness, because I have fallen short many times. It has been a reminder of His faithfulness. His faithfulness has been a strong tower for me (Prov 18:10). His faithfulness has stood strong no matter how devastating the storm. The last years have not been what I expected as they have been the most fulfilling years of my life. I have been stripped off of my pride but been given inexpressible peace. My worldly comforts have been taken away so that I can receive comfort from God to comfort others (2 Cor 1:4). I have been sorrowful, yet rejoicing (2 Cor 6:10). I have lost my freedom, but I have found rest in His perfect will. My old life has died, and Christ Himself has become my life (Col 3:4). In the last five years, what I have gained eternally outweighs what I lost in this world, because I gained Christ.

I used to listen to the song, "Bless the broken road" by Rascal Flatts (Don’t judge me). In my mind the destination of that song was always a girl. That I would find the one, no matter what I went through and how broken I was. But a few years ago, I downloaded the same song, but this time by a Christian group named "Selah." I still remember the first time I listened to that song in prison. A realization became crystal clear to me, and I teared up. I realized that I was wrong this whole time. The destination of the song was never a girl or anything this world could offer. The destination was Jesus. In that instant I went looking for that old hole in my heart that has caused me so much pain and hurt, but I couldn’t find it anymore. Instead I found an overflow of grace, forgiveness and the love of my Lord. My emptiness was filled with Jesus, and I realized that I was no longer lost or blind. With my heart filled with sorrow and gratitude, I asked for forgiveness and gave thanks to Him. This whole time He waited patiently for me while I impatiently made a chaos out of my life. 

“But you just smile and take my hand. You’ve been there, you understand.” – Rascal Flatts
Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick he will not sniff out.” This is one of the promises that I have seen being fulfilled in my own life. I was a bruised reed, but Jesus healed me. I sought the world and found emptiness. 5 years ago, the Lover of My Soul sought me when I did not think I was worth searching for, and found me. Now my life is hidden with His (Col 3:3). 

In my finiteness I made a fool out of myself, but in His infinite love He is transforming this fool into His disciple. God is Able (Hebrews 7:25)

Remember Him

 

A few weeks ago, one of my friends went in front of the parole board. It was his third parole hearing this time around. He had already done three years’ worth of denials. He was very confident that they will let him go this time because he has not been in any trouble in the last three years. We were all cheering for him on the day right before the results came. Another two years’ worth of denial. I just stood beside him not saying much. But then I asked if he was doing okay. He said, ‘No, it feels like a death in the family. No matter how much you try you couldn’t save them.’

 

The same evening, I came to my cell with a heavy heart and a muddled mind. I opened my Bible to what I was supposed to read that night. It was Mark 15. The crucifixion of Jesus. In this chapter the decision has been made to crucify Jesus after He has been flogged. Then they made Him carry His own Cross to the place called Golgotha. And they crucified Him. But what caught my eye was that before they crucified Him they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh but He did not take it. He did not take the drink that would help him to dull the senses and could make it easy to endure the cross. He was offered a little less of the cross but He did not take it. Instead he drank the full cup of wrath and experienced all of the cross. 

 

‘They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh and he received it not.’

Mark 15:23

I found myself going back two thousand years to this place called Golgotha. My pain and the tears in my eyes blurred my vision so I could not see Jesus clearly. My vision cleared when the tears rolled away and I saw Jesus on the cross. Still, I thought to myself, He could not really understand all that I have been through. Then suddenly I see this cup underneath His cross. It is full of wine and myrrh and it sits rejected. And I keep staring at that rejected cup. It is like the answer to all my problems. I lift up my face toward Him and ask, ‘Why did you not take it?’ He answers, ’So that you will know that I went through everything you went through and so much more until it was finished.’ Then I asked, ‘what about the time when I was drenched in my own sin?’ My Jesus still lifted and nailed to the cross and the cup still rejected. ‘What about the time I felt lonely and forsaken?’ My Jesus still lifted and nailed to the cross and the cup still rejected. ‘What about the day I entered the razor wired walls?’ My Jesus still lifted and nailed to the cross and the cup still rejected. I ask, ‘What if I never come out of prison?’ My Jesus still lifted and nailed to the cross and the cup still rejected.

‘They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh and he received it not.’

Mark 15:23.

I can often go throughout my day forgetting what Jesus did for me on the cross. That is why in Luke 22:19, The Lord commands us to remember Him because He knows that we are forgetful people. Though the bones of my Savior can never be found, I have found His heart. In this passing life, I have come to know His eternal love for me. In this momentary darkness of suffering, sorrow and pain, His cross over-shadows all and the cup still sits rejected. And now I sit in this prison cell drinking from the cup of his grace. Overflowing is the cup of His Grace.

 

“...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:1-3

Chasing Pools

A week ago, I was sitting in my chair enjoying some music and not wanting any human interaction. Then suddenly, through my peripheral vision, I saw a friend of mine coming towards me. (In my defense, when you live in a barracks with 50 men, sometimes it’s hard to get some space to gather your thoughts.) I tried to act like I didn’t see him even though he pulled his chair really close to me. I guess he didn’t see my sign that read, “No human interactions please.” Then after him staring at me for a while, I gave up and asked him the reason for existing in my space. He had a question for me, a serious one. 

He asked, “What if the only reason I am a Christian in here is because I do not have access to the temptations of the free world? What if I am a Christian in here just to get by?”

A few months ago, I was struggling with the same question. Before being locked up, I was a hypocrite. And I was such a good hypocrite that even I did not know that I was one. I had successfully deceived myself (1 Cor 3:18). I was asking God to show me whether my heart was sincere towards Him or if I was still being deceived by myself. That is when God reminded me of a question He asked a man like me 2000 years ago, “Do you want to get well?”

 

In John 5, Jesus was by a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. There were a lot of disabled people by that pool. They believed that if they would get to that pool at a specific time, they would be healed of their disease or disability. Jesus saw a man there who had been an invalid for 38 years, and he simply asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The man replied that he had no one to put him in the pool, and the days when he tried to get in, others would pass him and get in the pool before him. Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” And just like that the man was healed.

I was just like the disabled person, a spiritually crippled man sitting in his own filth for so long. Jesus saw me lying there, learned about my condition, and then asked me, “Do you want to get well?” And when he asked, I pointed towards a muddy pool and showed Him my helplessness. He asked, “Do you want to get well?” I answered, “If you can just help me get a better future.” He asked, “Do you want to get well?” I answered, “If you can just help me out to get a lighter sentence.” He asked again, “Do you want to get well?” I answered, “If you can just help me get out of prison.” Is it possible that my pool, my helplessness, captivity and freedom, all these things have nothing to do with me being well? There is a song we sing here called “Son of David” by Ghostship. It is probably our favorite song because we get to shout when we sing the chorus. There is a line in that song that says, “the blind won’t gain their sight by opening their eyes.” All my life, I thought that I could see the pool I needed right before me, but it took God to show me real healing.  

It never ceases to amaze me how good God has been throughout my entire life. How He has carried me. How He meets me in a prison cell. How He is running toward me while I am running toward Him. “The life I now live in the body, I live by Faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

I have often tried to show God the solutions to my problems. I have often tried to chase various pools to satisfy the deepest desires of my heart. And every time it has left me hurt and dry. But God has shown me this: that I will find my wellness in the precious words of Jesus Christ. He has told me, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  Now, I will no longer be found sitting around a pool near the Sheep Gate.

 

“WHEN I WAS FREE, I WAS CHAINED,

BUT WHEN I BECAME CHAINED,

JESUS SET ME FREE!”

 

JESUS

I sit in my cell today feeling disheartened. I don’t even know why I feel this way. Like David, I am questioning my soul; ‘Why are you so discouraged?’ I ask myself, is it my past? Is it my future? Is it my present? I do not understand why I feel this way. I feel broken and lonely. What shall I do? Where shall I go? 

 

I met a guy here who was on fire for God the last time he was in prison. He said he read the Bible and did prayer circles all the time. But when he got out, the first thing he did was to throw away his Bible in the trash can. Even as the Bible hit the bottom, he said to himself, ‘I probably will be back.’  Sure enough, he did make it back!

 

In my past, when I tried to trek on the roads that I shouldn’t have been on, I learned that those roads led to nothingness. When I tried to run away from God, I was running away to emptiness. In John 6, Jesus feeds the five thousand and walks on the water. In the same chapter, He also gives his disciples a tough teaching about the cost of following Him. Because it was a hard to follow through the hard teaching, many deserted Him. Only the twelve remained. “‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked.  Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’”

 

In this exchange, I grasp the desperation that Peter had. In a way he was saying, ‘I have already tried all that the world has to offer. And I have learned that It all leads to Oblivion.’ In the same way, right now my soul is downcast and my past seems a little too close and my future seems faint. And in the midst of that, Jesus asks me ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ In my despondency and my brokenness, all I can say is, ‘Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life.’

 

Through all this I have learnt that without Jesus, no matter where I am at, I am living to die. But with Jesus I am dying to live. In the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, no one satisfies my soul like my redeemer and my savior JESUS CHRIST does.

‘We have come to believe and to know that YOU are the HOLY ONE OF GOD.’

John 6:69

Darkest Days, Greatest Light

 

Today is April 4^th and it is Easter Sunday.  This past Friday was Good Friday.  But in prison every day feels the same. We are stuck in one place and have the same unchanged view. We wear the same colorless clothes and are always surrounded by the unending concrete walls. It feels like we are stuck in a perpetual Black Saturday.

 

When I was first arrested and went to jail, a few hours in the jail was enough for me to say, “Yup, I am not coming to this place again.” But shockingly, since my incarceration, I have seen countless men who keep coming back to jail after getting out.  I met this one guy who came back in jail and got out six times in only 11 months.  Let me tell you, they don’t come back because they love this place.  But still they keep coming back to a place they hate. It all just sounds like a hopeless Black Saturday.

 

I have heard the saying “Time heals” countless times, but I would gently like to disagree with that. If the saying was true then the percentage of recidivism would be low. There are people who have spent decades in prison but come back to this place after a month of freedom. I have met men who are in their fifties who have spent more time in prison than in the free world, and are still coming back to prison for the 8^th time.  Seems like time itself is incomplete in bringing healing.

 

For what I have experienced, time itself doesn’t eternally heal anybody. It can bring fleeting contentment but not long-term. The only way time can heal is if it is spent with Someone who is Himself the Healer. We cannot expect eternal restoration to come through time if it’s not spent with Jesus, both in prison and in the free world. 

If I was doing my time in prison without Jesus, then no matter how much of my life I spend here, I will still be lost. That’s where most of the prison population is right now. They have neither experience the death of Jesus on a Friday nor have the hope for a resurrected King on a Sunday. They are just stuck in a colorless and hopeless Saturday.

 

Instead, I know a Christian man here who says, ‘I am free, I am just waiting for them to release me.’ He has been in prison for 30 years. He became a Christian when an officer shared the Gospel with him and since then he has been spiritually free. I can tell you about how so many people have wasted their lives here, but I’d rather tell you about how Jesus uses our hopeless and defeated Saturdays to usher us into the Glorious and Victorious Sunday. 

 

Psalm 88 is one of the most dismal chapters in the Bible, and it is also one of my most cherished ones. In this chapter, the author is going through a challenging phase and is deserted. It’s a gloomy chapter with a despondent conclusion. But through the dark times, the author cries out to the Lord three times. The darkness does not drive us away from God, rather it makes us desperate for Him. 

 

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

2 Coronthians 7:10

 

Jesus uses our Saturdays “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God.” Only Jesus can turn our arrest into a rescue mission.

 

I wrote this on the day of my sentencing: “Thank you for reminding me of how Great of a God You are. Even in the day of dread and shame, you walked with me. While I confessed and asked for forgiveness for my sins out loud in the court, you set a table for me. How amazing are you that even in the day of my suffering, You brought Yourself Glory. You brought a smile instead of shame. I once was blind but now I see. Where You go, I’ll go and where You stay, I’ll stay.”

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. 
To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Isaiah 61:1,3

 

 

 

 

White as Snow

It's Valentine’s Day and nobody here cares much about it. We are all acting tough and hardcore, but hurting from inside since we do not have our loved ones close by. Then suddenly someone yells excitedly, ‘It’s snowing! The snowflakes are huge!’ We all run to our cells and try to look at the snow through the little window that we are provided. It looks different than what it typically looks like. It looks New!

 

I’ve been incarcerated for couple of years now. Throughout this time, the view outside has always stayed unchanged – dull green and brown with razor wires (there might be other colors but I am color blind). When it rains it’s disheartening because I love rain, but I am unable to touch even a drop. Every now and then, I will see a few birds flying around and sometimes I envy them for the freedom they have.  But today was entirely different. It’s snowing, and the snow is sticking to the ground. The ground that used to be dull green, brown and dry is now white and untarnished. The cells that were dark and dingy are now beaming with a glow because of the light that is reflecting the snow and entering the cells through the small window. After looking at the scenery for an hour, I barely remember what it used to look like before. The snow has even made the razor wires look decent. I wonder if that is how Jesus looks at us.

 

Before I was incarcerated, I was living in a prison of my own making. It was made up of hypocrisy, hurts, lies, hate, immorality, double mindedness, etc.  Even though I appeared to be free, every bone in my body was chained. I had no purpose and all I wanted to do was hide.  My life looked like a dull green-brown, dry prison ground. But then during my hardest time, SOMEONE put me back together.

 

But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.
    For he gets their attention through adversity.

Job 36:15

 

God uses our own suffering to rescue us and gets our attention toward Him. When I arrived at the penitentiary, God used that physical distress to liberate me from my spiritual misery. And for sure, I can say that being spiritually free while physically captive is much better than being spiritually enslaved while physically free. My Lord and my redeemer Jesus, met me at my lowest point and unshackled me through His blood. He renewed my heart and gave me a purpose. He gave me a Freedom that can never be taken. He took my past and made it white as snow. So now when He looks at me, My Father sees me as blameless, untarnished because of the work of my Savior on the Cross.  He gave me a future that leads to Him. Jesus gave me Himself.  Now when I look at my scars, it no longer reminds me of my pain and sufferings but instead it reminds me of the love and sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

He made me White as Snow.

 

“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
    I will make them as white as wool.”

Isaiah 1:18