5 Things Prison Teaches Us About God

Hey family, welcome to Stepping Forward. My name is Sheridan Correa. I am the Director of Healing and Restoration Initiatives with Victorious Living and thanks for tuning in. Hey, today I want to talk to y'all about something that might sound strange at first, but it's five things that prison teaches us about God. I actually wrote this last year and I think I was just driving and I have like a post-it note pad in my car specifically for really great ideas that I have and I wrote this down and I have it still in my car, this little folded up post-it note that says, five things prison teaches us about God. And so I wrote this and I want to share it with you. So now I know prison is hard, okay? It's lonely, it's frustrating, it's humbling, it's even painful and if we're honest, many of us would rather be anywhere else. I know that when I was there, I would rather be absolutely anywhere else and always trying to figure out, okay, how do I get out of this situation? But what if I told you that some of the greatest lessons that you'll ever learn are going to be right behind bars and with God. God has a way of using difficult places to reveal himself in powerful ways. We see this time and time and time again in scripture where he shows up in really difficult places where people feel weak, where they are struggling, where they are uncertain and in need of something bigger and greater to get them through it and to get them to their promised land and to their destination. So let's look at five things that prison can teach us about God. I'm going to wear my glasses because I can't really see as I'm reading. Now I am reading because I printed it all out, so sorry, I'm sorry, bear with me. Number one, prison teaches us that God sees us and you're probably going, yeah, right, or I wouldn't be in prison. I'm the first one to tell you and everybody in this magazine right here and everybody on our ministry team knows and has lived experience that God is behind bars.

God is behind bars. He is alive. He is active absolutely everywhere on earth, not just in certain locations. He is everywhere all the time. He's omnipresent. I was going to say omnivore. That is not a characteristic of God, omnipresent, omnipotent, and I can't remember the third one right now, shoot. But when you come to prison, it can feel like you have been forgotten. You've just been shut out by the whole world and everything that you've ever known, forgotten by friends, forgotten by society, forgotten by even family. And that's our heartbeat at Victorious Living. We really want to exercise and apply, remember the prisoner to our lives, and that's why we do this. That's why we visit you. That's why we write to you. That's why we do all the things. But sometimes it can even feel like you've been forgotten by God. Scripture tells us a different story in Psalm 139, one of my favorite Psalms. I have it all marked up in my scriptures, in my Bible right here. Psalm 139 says there is nowhere that we can go where God is not present. I'm going to read it to you. This is the study Bible. So it is huge and it is heavy, and I use several different Bibles. I have different translations because they kind of say a little bit of different things. And then I have like a Hebrew dictionary and I have a Greek dictionary and I just love to nerd out and get in the Word of God. But Psalm 139, now Psalm 139 is a Psalm of, I have it titled in my, personally, God's knowledge of me and that he still loves me. Because doesn't it feel like sometimes that, you know, gosh, if God knew all the things

about me, he would not love me and he would not help me. That is not true. That is not true. That is a lie from the pit of hell. You look in Scripture. and God uses and meets and loves really Struggle bugs and broke-down people murderers liars prostitutes all that stuff and uses it. It's in the genealogy of Jesus Okay, so that does not discount you that does not discredit you that does not disqualify you from God being in your life and God Teaching you and and seeing you So Let me let me oh gosh, it's so long I was gonna read just the whole thing, but Let me see where I should have In verse 1 Oh Lord you have examined my heart and know everything about me He already knows we what what why do we try to hide from him? Why do we try to act like he doesn't know like we can pull one over on him That ain't real You know everything about me, you know when I sit down or when I stand up, you know My thoughts even when I'm far away You see me when I travel and when I rest at home, you know everything I do You know what I am going to say even before I say it Lord you go before me and you follow me You're put you place your hand of blessing on my head such knowledge is too wonderful for me too great for me to understand God is unfathomable and we'll never get even close to understanding and knowing everything about God because he is just so big and so beautiful and You know without limits, so there's there's always something new to learn about God But God sees us God sees you Psalm

139 again says there is nowhere that we can go where God is not present because he's already there It's not like we're gonna go meet God over here He's already there because he's everywhere all the time and ever present We got to catch up with him sometimes Catch up with him sometimes but God sees the man sitting alone in his cell God sees the woman crying herself to sleep at night if that may be if that's you thinking about your kids thinking about what you have done and The consequences of why you are in there and what is happening God sees the person carrying guilt shame fear and regret That's me You may feel invisible to the world, but you are not invisible to God The first thing prison teaches us is this God sees you God sees you he knows that you're there and he sees you El Roy I the God who sees He is there with you and he sees you he sees the hard time that you're having He sees where you are Praying and crying out and maybe not audibly maybe not verbally but in your heart he sees that and he knows that and He wants to do something about it He wants to he wants to come into your situation into your heart into your mind into into your life and Help you along in this area of your life in this season in your life Number two prison teaches us that freedom is more than a location Before prison many of us believe freedom meant doing whatever we wanted. Of course, that was my definition Yeah, you can't tell me what to do You're trying to control me. I want to do whatever I want to do and that's true freedom Well, I'll tell you this and scripture proved it once I got to scripture. I'm like, oh my gosh Look at this the scripture found out that freedom is more than a location Way before That doing whatever we want makes us a slave to sin because we end up gratifying our

desires and passions and our flesh becomes way stronger than our spirit if we are even spiritually reborn yet and Our selfishness is like center stage, right? That's why the word pride That's why that the letter I in the middle of pride and always capitalized pride when I write it out because it's like me It's all about me. It's all about you it's all about our selfishness and what we can get what we need what we want and that Creates slavery that creates bondage that creates bondage Christy just did a finding true freedom Broadcast a show just recently and That's legit. That is it, guys. Know the truth and truth will set you free. Freedom is actually not being able to do whatever you want, but it is coming under the leadership and the sovereignty of a good king who wants good for us, who wants that Jeremiah 29, 11 life. He's got good plans and purposes for us and promises to rest on. That is not to hinder us and limit us. That is to do the opposite. That is to bring us into who we are becoming and who we are created to be and receive and experience that abundant life. Okay, but look at where that kind of freedom got us. Okay, you were like me. You were locked up because you were just doing whatever you wanted to do because that was freedom to us. Some of us were physically free, but spiritually imprisoned by addiction, anger, fear, pride, unhealthy relationships, and destructive thinking. I had all of those. Jesus said, if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. Look at me. I just get ahead of myself sometimes.

I apologize. True freedom isn't found outside these walls. It's found in Christ. It's found in your identity in Christ. I've met incarcerated people who are more free than people walking around in the free world on the streets. I was one of them. When I had my encounter with Christ and I surrendered and made him the Lord of my life, master and Lord of my life, the king who I take a knee to and who I obey and who I answer to. I was so free. I was the freest I'd ever been in my entire life while I was behind bars, while I was locked up. Nobody could have told me otherwise. Now prison teaches us that freedom begins in the heart. So it's an act of surrender, surrendering your rights, surrendering your life, surrendering your sin, everything. Lord, you can have every single part of me, not just the addiction, not just my prison experience, not just, oh, you can have my family. You can have every single part of me, my thought life, my emotions, my actions. You get to decide what to do, what I do with my life now, because it's yours anyway. I belong to you. That's what stewardship means. Um, it's coming underneath the protection and the provision and the sovereignty of God. And that happens anywhere, not, and I know some of y'all watching this because I know y'all personally, and I see y'all when I come, we see y'all when we come visit you, there are some of y'all just experiencing so much freedom behind bars and purpose and passion and the plans of God than you ever have in your life. So it is not determined on your location. It is quite the opposite. Freedom is more than a location. Number three, prison teaches us that God can redeem anything.

And can I back up and number two for a second, what prison was for me or jail? I never went to straight up prison, but jail was for me like my training grounds. It was my edge. It was my laboratory. And so is the, so was this life out of here. But I had that mindset while I was in jail. Like, okay, this is my training grounds. This is where I am becoming, this is where I'm starting the becoming journey. And so I treat it like my laboratory, like my educational, like my school, I would call it life school. This is my life school. And that has not left me. My I'm still in life school until Jesus calls me home. I'm still in school. But it is not, it is not. Freedom doesn't mean you're on the other side of the gates. It can happen absolutely anywhere because God is anywhere and everywhere. And freedom doesn't, it's not limited to like the elite. It is for everyone and anyone who says yes. Number three, prison teaches us that God can redeem anything and praise the Lord that he does. One of those, one of the enemy's favorite lies is that you've gone too far. You've done too much. Your life is ruined. Your story is over. You're trash. There's nothing good about you. You're not useful. God can't do anything with you. That is the lie. Those are all lies from the pit of hell.

God specializes in redemption and even more restoration. He specializes in rescue. redemption, redeeming every part of your story, and then restoring you to His perfect design. Throughout Scripture, God uses murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves, and people with messy, messy, messy histories. And He meets them in the middle of that, along their story, and still uses them, still is in relationship with them. In fact, some of God's greatest servants came from broken places. The cross itself is proof that God can bring life out of death and beauty out of ashes. My life is living proof that God can bring life out of death and beauty out of ashes. Your mistakes may be part of your story, but they are not the end of your story. Prison teaches us that God can redeem what we thought was beyond repair. Hear my words, because these are God's words also. You are not too far gone. You are worth saving. There is redemption in your present. There is redeeming your past, and there is redemption still in your future. Let God do what only He can do. Number four, prison teaches us that our greatest need is God. I can tell you what, man. That's some hard stuff, what y'all are living in and through. I know that it is re-traumatizing. It's hard to let your guard down. It's hard to find safety and security sometimes while in these seasons of your life and in this location. But that does not, despite that, I'm going to say that, despite that, God is still our greatest need, and He is there, and He is ready and willing, and He sees you, and He cares about you. When everything is stripped away, you discover that what you were really depending on was, I'm going to name a few, money.

How many times were like, oh, I just need, I just need some money. That's going to get me out of this situation. That is what I need to help me. Wrong answer. Oh, I just need a man or I need a woman. I need a side piece. I need whatever. That's going to fulfill me. That's going to satisfy me. That's what I need. Nope. How about status? If I could just be, get that next promotion, or if I could drive that car, that's what I need. That's what I need. That's what's going to make me feel better. That's what's going to really let me become who I'm supposed to become. That's not true either. How about comfort? Not doing anything. That's what I need, is I need to not do anything, or I'm going to let other people take care of me. Yeah, that can be pretty comfortable, right? That's what I need. That's what I need. I need my parents maybe to even re-raise me. That's what I need. How about control? If I could just control all the things in my life, me, and let's be honest, not us, because we want to control everybody else and everything else in our life, and that's

what we think we need. Well, if she would just stop doing that, then I wouldn't be this way, or vice versa. If he would stop being this way, stop doing that, you just need to stop. You just need to stop, and so then I wouldn't have, right? I know y'all have said that sometimes and think that sometimes, but many of those things, they just disappear. They are not with you. You can't take them to heaven. They are temporary, and they disappear while you're in there. Can I get an amen? Yep, you ain't got them with you. And while that can be painful, it also can be a gift because sometimes God removes what we've been leaning on so that we'll learn to lean on him. This is so true in my life, so true in my life, and I got to experience and decide what am I going to do with the time that I have while I'm in here? And I thought about it as, okay, this is a big Holy Spirit timeout. This is a divine timeout for my life so that I could get quiet and get all the idols and all the things that were noise in my head and distractions in my life so that I could hear God clearly, I get to know God clearly, and understand even myself more clearly and my future. That is so, so legit, family. That is so real. If you've experienced that, I would love to hear from you. Write in, comment on Pando. If you're watching this on Pando, there's a comment area. I not only was stripped everything, I mean, I was stripped everything, from everything in my life. I literally lost everything, not once, but twice. Not once, but twice.

And I ended up in jail nine different times and had everything taken away from me. And it wasn't until the eighth time that I took a knee and that I encountered God. But there was such a blessing and such a gift in that. Some of the deepest prayers that I've ever prayed come from a place of desperation where I had nothing. And it was one of the most freeing places also, where I got to really show or watch God show up in my life in incredible, miraculous ways. Some of the strongest faith stories begin when a person realizes that God is all that I have and then discovers God is all that I need. Scripture says that he is sufficient. Do you know what all sufficient means? It means that is enough. That is enough. And what I've come to realize in my life is these great things that I have, the provisions and the house and the car and all these things, I do not need them, but I surely am grateful for them. And how I envision my life when I am down here is, hey, all of this, although my name might be on the title and blah, blah, blah, all of this is God's, it belongs to God. And all of this is just a rental place anyway, because my home is in heaven. That's my eternal and for real home, right? My citizenship is in heaven.

And so that determines how I live my life down here. But all of this is just temporary. It's a rental. It's a rental. Because my real home is up above. Number five, prison teaches us that God isn't finished with us yet. Praise the Lord for that. I have not arrived. Although I thought I had several years ago. I have not arrived. I have to keep reminding myself of that. If God were finished with you, brother, or sister, you wouldn't be hearing this message right now because you would be with him. So he's not finished with you. Your story is not over. And miracles still happen all the time on a daily basis, sometimes several times during the day. The fact that you're breathing means that God has purpose for your life. It is the divine breath in which keeps you and your heart pumping. It means he has purpose for you. God has a purpose and a plan for your life, for everyone's life. You may not be where you want to be, and you may have regrets, and you may have consequences that you are still facing in the future,

but God is still writing your story, amen. Philippians 1.6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it out until completion. That is a promise of God. That is a promise of God. Prison may be a chapter of your life, but it doesn't have to be the whole book, amen. God is still working. God is still healing. And God is still transforming. And God is still calling you forward. God is still calling you forward. Will you answer that call? I wanna leave you with some reflection questions. Which of these five truths do you need to remember most today? Where have you seen God at work? During your incarceration. He's everywhere. He's in the small things, in the details, and even in the big times, big things, the big movements, the huge milestones, but he is working alive and active all the time. Where have you seen God work already? And if you don't know, that is something that you can journal about. That's something that you can journal about. Where is God working in my life? Where have I seen him work in my life lately? Where have I felt his presence lately?

I do this in my own journal time monthly, if not weekly, on Saturdays. I call it my Saturday examine. Where is God working in my life? Where have I felt his presence? Where do I see his blessings? I have to reflect back because sometimes I'll miss it. I'll be going so fast in my life that I'll miss it. So I sit down intentionally and I reflect back. Number three, what is, this is the reflection questions. What is one lie that you believed about yourself that God's truth challenges? What is one lie that is keeping you, is creating a hindrance from you, from receiving all that God has for you? Where can you find God? You invite God into that lie once you expose it and go to the word of God and challenge it Put that thought on trial write it out Because that thought those thoughts are keeping you held hostage. They're keeping you from your freedom How might God be using this season to prepare you for what's next Oh, that's a good one. There are so many lessons to be learned while you are where you are behind bars Okay, and things that you will need For your future. God doesn't waste any anything including your prison time so friend Prison can teach us many difficult lessons But if you're willing to listen it can also teach us something beautiful about God If you're willing to listen and to learn and to watch These this this this is what's beautiful about it and what he's teaching That he sees you That he frees you

That he sustains you even while you're there and that he isn't finished with you yet No matter where you are today. Remember this your circumstances Do not determine your value Your mistakes do not determine your future god does despite all the things that we have done Despite all the ways that we have not measured up Despite all the blah blah blah the things that people have done to us god Does not stop there. He does that does not get the last word despite you being where you are right now God can still use you and still loves you and sees you and you have value and worth and if you don't believe that you Got to go to ephesians chapter one and read through that and write write down all of the characteristics and identities That god sees and says about you you have value and you have worth you are not a mistake god does not make junk With god, there is always hope and until next time keep stepping forward. Amen. Bye. Bye Thank you for watching our broadcast. Are you an incarcerated brother or sister who needs encouragement? Write to us at victorious living correspondents po box 2751 greenville, north carolina Or email us at hope at vl mag.org To view victorious living magazine in its entirety. Please have your chaplain contact us at 352 478-2098 Or email us through our website at vlmag.org Org we are happy to provide our victorious living magazine free of charge in bulk with or without staples