When I asked the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His, I did expect it to be broken a lot, but He sure hasn’t been going easy on me lately. But with each heart break, I’ve been learning more and more about the sweet love He has for us. For the past few days, we have been visiting the juvenile detention center here in Ratchaburi. Through each of the girls’ stories and the roller coaster of emotions that I’ve felt, the Lord has given me insight into a new depth of His love for us.
I’m so thankful for the opened door and opportunity to go into the juvenile center and hang out with the girls. We have been teaching them English, loving on them, and listening to their stories. Every girl has a unique story. While some were guilty for breaking the law, some were completely innocent but have taken the sentence for loved ones.
The girls are ages 13-22 mainly. Some stories include drugs, one girl took the sentence for her brother after he was caught stealing, and another for her now ex boyfriend. Each of the girls have different sentences for the severity of the crimes. My heart broke for each of the girls, even before I met them. But after meeting them and forming relationships, my heart ached even more and all I could think about was how deeply I desired for them to know true freedom and forgiveness, which can only come through Jesus.
Being in the detention center was a new way for Him to break my heart and mend it back together with more pieces of His.
Throughout our time, He related so many things back to His heart that I feel like is such a struggle for us to comprehend while pursuing a deeper relationship with Him.
For me, He related the juvenile to captivity and the crime to sin- sin leads to captivity as crime leads to juvenile. Freedom from captivity in sin comes from Jesus Christ who died on the cross to wash us clean from our sins. He has freely given us forgiveness, but in order to receive the fullness of freedom, we must first accept His forgiveness from past sins and walk in freedom from guilt/shame.
[Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1]
He also related the girl’s story of her ex boyfriend to how the devil lures us into sin, and how we become captivated by it, unable to find an escape. At the time, she was being teased with the idea of love and fun, but it turned into a trap, leading to a 2+ years sentence- not at all what she expected. When I asked her what the worst part about it was she said not having freedom. That relates so much to being held captive by sin as well. Sometimes in the middle of the struggle, the hardest part is not being able to find freedom from sin. The only way to have complete freedom is through Jesus and His grace.
[a thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come so that you may have LIFE and have it in ABUNDANCE John 10:10]
He related to me that no matter the crime, big or small, and no matter he sentence, long or short, they were still being held captive. Sin works in the same way. Even the sins that we consider as “small” can hold us captive, unable to walk in the freedom that is required to have a deep relationship with the Lord. No matter if it has been troubling you for a week or 4 years, it can still be keeping you from all that the Lord has for you. He wants us to come to Him with the big and the small things that are holding us back from an open relationship with Him.
[For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified FREELY by His grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24]
The last thing was accepting forgiveness. I realized that these girls HAVE to accept forgiveness in order to move on with their lives after their sentence. It’s so crucial that they accept forgiveness from their families and forgive themselves within their heart. They are so smart and beautiful, with lots of life left to live. They can either accept forgiveness and start with a clean slate or they can dwell in their past and not grow at all. This happens way too often with Christians. We do easily forget that Christ died so we could live. That His grace covers every sin- past, present,and future. It can be so easy to get discouraged and give up after a mistake. Sometimes it just seems impossible that His grace can be sufficient. Accepting His forgiveness can be difficult- especially when you have a strong fear of the Lord and appreciation for all He has done. But the truth that I realized, is that the desire that I had in my heart for these girls to accept forgiveness is just a small chunk of the GINORMOUS desire that the Lord has for us to accept His forgiveness and grace. I mean He gave a gift SO great for us to be forgiven, i can’t imagine the pain He feels when we do not fully accept it.
[How happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! Pslam 32:1]
[I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes from the law, then Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2:21]
[Through Him, we have obtained ACESS by faith into his GRACE in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2]
I truly hope that all of these words sink into your hearts and minds. I hope that this encourages you to walk in the freedom that the Lord has already given to you. His grace is so sufficient. I want each of you to see how deeply the Lord loves you and how deeply He desires a relationship with you not hindered by any shame or guilt.
Jesus, thank You for being You. thank You for showing no favoritism. thank You that Your love is the deep love of a Father. thank You for desiring us to run home to You and celebrating when we do. i’m so thankful that there is no limit on Your forgiveness and freedom. thank You for the opportunity to share Your love with Your precious daughters in this difficult time of their life. You are so sweet and I love you! Amen
Thank you for reading!! Please continue to pray for freedom in the hearts of these girls and justice for any unjust situations. Please pray that they will accept and believe how valuable they are to Jesus!! Thank you all so much for being so encouraging! I love y’all!
