The Holy Spirit gave me two messages for a young inmate I was visiting. (I put it this way because I know the devil doesn’t talk like what I heard.)

The first concerned the battle of Ai (Joshua 7). The Israelites, flush with success at Jericho, were poised to tackle the next domino in the Promised Land conquest. The scouts advised their leader to not weary the whole army, because Ai was small. So only 3,000 men went up—and got chased back.

Joshua seemed angry with the Lord (v.7). But the Lord said, “Get up! . . . Israel has sinned.” And sure enough, an elaborate ritualistic investigation uncovered hidden sin in the camp. Not until it was rooted out did the Israelites experience God’s blessing in battle.

I have heard that people faced with unbearable news go through successive stages, beginning with “denial” and hitting “bargaining” somewhere down the line. The young man I am visiting is praying—and also “lawyering up.” That’s fine, but I didn’t want there to be confusion: Plea-bargaining in court is acceptable, but don’t cut a deal with God because He ain’t playin’.

We talked together about complete repentance, total surrender, no prejudging the outcome, no dictating terms, nothing but trusting God unconditionally up front.

The second thing on my mind was to encourage the young man not to think of his days in the jail as wasted—a lost parenthesis interrupting so-called “real life.” Every day he trusts God is real life, and something good is going on behind the deceptive sameness. One day it will erupt into the visible, as God brings about a new and beautiful thing when the time is right. We talked about Joseph the Patriarch. The young inmate received it, and we prayed.

And then I went home and preached it to myself.

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