God In Prison

Last summer, my friend Dan decided to go caving. The problem is, he had never been caving and quite frankly was freaked out by the prospect of contorting his body into pretzel-like positions in order to squeeze his way through a pitch-black maze.

Half way through his expedition, the light on his flashlight started to dim until it had finally drained all of the juice the little Duracell could muster. And as he fumbled through his gear in the dark he was hit with the realization that he had no extra batteries. So he and his partner decided that that the best thing to do would be to use the one flashlight they had left to light the way for both of them. The plan was for Dan to use the flashlight, move a few feet, then turn around and shine the light for his partner to catch up. Dan took hold of the flashlight and was ready to move on. But as soon as he turned his body, the flashlight hit the side of the cave and fell out of his hand. As soon as the flashlight hit the rocky floor, it went dark and all Dan heard was glass shattering, plastic being scattered like shrapnel and batteries rolling away.

When Dan told me about his experience, all I could ask was, “How did you keep from freaking out?” Dan answered me, “At least I knew I wasn’t alone in that cave.”

Sometimes that is enough to get us through the most difficult moments isn’t it? The knowledge that there is someone else with us. We aren’t alone in the dark.

Knowing that we aren’t alone has incredible power.

Over and over again in scripture, we find people in dark places, needing some sort of help, and the only comfort they have is the knowledge that God hasn’t left them behind. In fact, there is this story of a guy named Joseph who was in his own dark place in life. He had been abandoned by family, lied about, falsely accused, and thrown in prison. And the only hint we get about what God is up to is in a few profound words that say, “the Lord was in Joseph in the prison.”

God in the prison.

It is quite easy for us to imagine God in the good. God in the blessing. God in the raises at work. God in the health of our family. But when is the last time we thought of God in the prison. God in the sickness. God in the accident. This is the God revealed for us in scripture. A God who is actively involved and present in our broken and dark places. A God who joins us in the prison - which may or may not be the God that most of us want.

If I am honest, I would prefer a God who removes all pain and suffering from my life. I am oftentimes looking for a divine band-aid that takes care of all my boo-boos, or better yet, keeps me from even scraping my knee in the first place.

But this isn’t the picture painted of God from the stories of scripture. We simply get a God who joins us in the prison. Perhaps God is closest to us, not in our moments of joy, but in our moments of pain and suffering. And this is what is so beautiful about Jesus.

I find so much inspiration in the deep humanity of Jesus. As we watch Jesus walk the dusty streets of this world, we find One who is deeply in touch with the human condition. In one story, we find Him grieving over a friend who has died, a dark place for anyone. And the language that the writer uses to describe Jesus’ reaction to His friend’s death is fascinating.

In one simple display of humanity, Jesus puts on profound display the very essence of God,
“Jesus wept.”

He wept.

I can’t answer why it happened to you.
Or why he died after fighting for so long.
And I don’t know why you are still suffering from cancer.
I can’t answer why she walked out on you.
Or why he chose to drive after all those drinks.
But I do know that Jesus knows the pain that comes with suffering.

I know this because He wept.

You aren’t far from God in your dark place.
This God makes His home in prisons and at funerals.
He is content to sit with you on the cold hard floor of suffering.
He feels at home with weeping.
And sometimes the greatest comfort is simply knowing, you haven’t been left alone.


Jason Mitchell is a teaching pastor at LCBC, a community of people whose lives are being changed by Christ. He lives in Manheim, PA with his wife Jenny and daughter Sienna.
© 2008 Jason Mitchell. Used by permission of the author. All rights reserved.


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