Behind Barbed Wire

I could not stop staring at the coiled barbed wire that lined the top of the chain-link fencing. That is what the women of Las Colinas Women’s Detention center look at every day. When they brought us through the hallways, the women had to face the wall and not dare budge while we passed through. It reminded me of children in school who were once disciplined by time outs in the corner of the classroom while facing the wall. All that was missing was the dunce cap, although the prison uniforms with the big black letters, “SD Jail” stamped on the back came very close.

For days on end I kept asking myself, how is it that a woman can fall so far? Something seems amiss when a woman is living out her years behind bars. I have learned that 31% of women in prison have been sexually abused. Makes perfect sense….self worth was robbed away at childhood and it has not been regained.

Every ounce of me wanted to sit with these women for hours until they turned their lives over to Jesus. Yet, I only had 20 minutes per group we visited. At one of the stops, the women were not behind the fencing. I accidentally left Dan’s guitar case behind and had to run back to pick it up. Upon my return, I was greeted by three women who had tears streaming down their faces and begged me for a hug. I had forgotten that I was forbidden to touch them and did not think twice about their request. Hugging is not permitted because inmates are known to steal things off of you or your clothing without you even realizing it. I am so naive that I would have never dreamed that the motive of theft could be disguised beneath tears and a brief moment of human need.

Jesus would be able to read the minds of each woman, understanding every intricacy of her life, and she would know without question that she was in the presence of God. The meeting would change her life. Scripture tells us that we are called to a ministry of reconciliation, as a result of our own encounter with the Savior (1 Corinthians 5: 17-18). The woman at the well was living in denial and Jesus simply used truth. He saw through her facade, yet by taking the time to speak to her, she knew with absolute certainty that she was valued and loved. An act of kindness paired with words of truth changed a life and impacted a community.

Sin has a way of being contagious/blinding and many of these precious women have been abused so long that they know how to do nothing other than abuse either themselves or the society that does not defend them.  I heard Kay Arthur say recently, “Sin takes you farther than you ever wanted to go and costs you more than you ever wanted to pay.” God promises that He will give us a way out of a sin situation, but some push beyond the borders and enter a territory that eventually reduces them to wearing a suit that labels them as something God never created them to be.

The fences that some of us live behind and the labels we wear can be manifested in many shapes and sizes.  The good news is that God will send His Son to meet you where you are; to rattle your cage and remove the scales from your eyes. He will come, be assured. When He does, He will sing and speak into your life to let you know that those chains do not have to be permanent.  You must then decide what you will do with your divine appointment with Jesus.

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