As the young men and women departed the room—in
groups of six inmates and one guard—I was allowed to shake
each hand and say good-bye. The youngest and smallest boy
of the entire group, perhaps only fourteen years old, looked me
straight in the eye and said, “That was me.”
I said, “Pardon me?” I didn’t understand what he meant.
He repeated himself. “That was me. I am the one who went to
bed crying last night. I told God I hated Him for putting me
here. That message was from God to me.”
That young inmate heard God talk to him, telling him
personally that—no matter what he’d done, where he’d been,
or what he’d said—He loved him. That boy had no idea that
God loved him with “Ahavah” love (Hebrew)—passionate,
possessive, permanent, and costly love. God’s love simply
transcended his pain and swept into his heart with words he
could understand.
Romans 8:35, 38–39 says,Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he
no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted,
or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?...
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s
love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our
fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the
powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky
above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever
be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ
Jesus our Lord. (NLT)God loves you. If you’ve never read a Bible or know what it
says, even if you’ve been stubborn or disobedient or resistant
to His voice, God will talk to you through any means necessary