Justin and I went out to breakfast the other day with my longtime friend, Joe.
And I have to tell you.......what a gift that morning turned out to be!
Joe has spent the last 30 years in prison, entering at only 19 years old....barely a man, with a lifetime of lessons still ahead of him. He was one of my closest friends when we were teenagers, and even through all those years apart, we kept in touch.
That bond between us never really changed. I still see him and love him as my brother. He's someone to joke around with, someone I can be serious with and know he has my back, someone I genuinely care about, and someone I’ve prayed for through the years and ALWAYS believed God had a plan for.
Though I wasn't able to physically watch him grow......I’ve witnessed the renewing of his mind...letter by letter, word by word, prayer by prayer....I’ve watched God transform him from the inside out.
30 years in prison....and yet… sitting across from him that morning, you wouldn’t see a man hardened by the years.
You’d see grace.
You’d see light.
You’d see a miracle.
Joe spoke with this calm, grounded joy that only comes from someone who’s met the God of second chances!
It’s one thing to talk about forgiveness.
It’s another to look it in the face....to see it sitting across from you, smiling with peace in his eyes and freedom in his soul.
That’s Joe!
He’s certainly not who he was when he went in.
He’s living proof that NO ONE is too far gone for God to reach.
He's living proof that prison walls can’t keep out the presence of the Holy Ghost! He's living proof that when God writes your redemption story, it doesn’t matter HOW it started.......what matters is how He finishes it!
As I sat there, my heart kept thinking about the goodness of God....how He restores what life tried to steal, how He rebuilds the years the locusts devoured, and how even when the world forgets someone, God NEVER does.
Sitting there, I couldn’t help but think about how time itself doesn’t define a person...... transformation does.
And my friend Joe?
Well, he’s a walking testimony of restoration!
He's a living reminder that God's grace really DOES change everything!
And now, I can’t help but feel excited! I'm excited to watch and hear firsthand how God continues to move in his life. I'm excited to see how many hearts Joe will touch, how many broken souls will be drawn to healing through his story, and how God will use him mightily for Kingdom business.
Because when God redeems a life, He doesn’t just set it free…
He sets it on fire...He uses it to reach others still trapped in the dark.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
- Isaiah 61:1
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