Monday, January 27, 2020 -
Two or three weeks ago, I had the privilege to have one of the guards here in the prison approach me, requesting to speak with me privately. He was the second to approach me, in the nearly 14 months since coming to prison, to thank me for helping Lisa and Isabella Miller, and for standing on the Word of God, and not wavering, and to encourage me. I don’t recall if I’d written about it, but I probably did at the time.
At that point, this particular guard, who is a believer, had requested that I also pray for him, as he was going through some particularly grievous events in his own personal life, which he told me about. I happily consented and have done so daily since then. I will not share the details any further of his travails to protect his privacy, being careful not to reveal his identity, for guards to have contact with inmates is frowned upon if not strictly forbidden.
However, last week, I happened to walk by this guard, who was standing alone. I stopped momentarily just long enough to tell him that I’m praying for him. He smiled, I walked off, but I gave him a thumbs up. The whole ordeal was orchestrated and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, no doubt.
Last evening, this man stopped me and thanked me for being prompted to speak to him and tell him I’d been praying for him. “You can’t imagine what that meant to me at that particular moment.” He went on to explain that it was a very rough and difficult day, which again, I cannot reveal the details of, but the encouragement came at just the right moment. I said, “Praise the Lord” and tried to be of further encouragement to him. It gave me a reason to rejoice in the Lord all the way back to my unit for the work and move of the Holy Spirit. For not only does it thrill my heart God could use me just to bring a word of encouragement, but the fact that this guard was also an encouragement to me! Praise the Lord for His divine appointments!