In God’s Special Time

“Thank you for being here. It means so much to me.”

Her words pulsed with an unspoken yearning to believe I was there on purpose, just for her. I was dumbfounded. I was serving on a Kairos weekend at the women’s state prison, and until five minutes ago, we didn’t know each other. Or rather, I didn’t know her. I would later recall her bizarre crime. But at the moment, she was a sweet twenty-two-year-old with long dark blond curly hair. She recognized me from our church. Aware of the potential for judgment, she nonetheless introduced herself to me. The heartfelt emotion of her comment percolated in my mind.

The Kairos Prison Ministry program responds to Christ’s call to action by ministering to those in prison. It is a carefully structured three-and-a-half-day weekend designed to share the transforming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Through the talks, discussions, and chapel meditations, prisoners learn that they are worthy of God’s love, light, and grace—that no matter who they are or what they have done, God forgives them, loves them, and has a purpose for them. It is an invitation to a personal relationship with the living Christ.

My journey to this specific Kairos weekend was a little haphazard. Far too happenstance for this young woman to be thankful I was there on purpose, just for her.

Six months prior, I attended a ministry fair at our church. It was one of those events where all of the opportunities to get connected—from the sweet ladies who make comfort blankets to the choir—are all represented in one place at one time on a Sunday morning so the whole church can meander through, ask questions, and explore potential interests. As I was doing this, I stopped to talk to a friend representing Kairos.

Mike invited me to attend a weekend closing, the final celebration, when the Inside Kairos community (inmates who have graduated from their own Kairos three-day weekend program) and the body of Christ from outside join in welcoming the weekend’s participants as new sisters within the Kairos community. I added my name to his sign-up sheet. Mine was the only name on it.

Then the holidays happened, and I never gave Kairos another thought. In mid-January, I received a call from a number I didn’t recognize.  Ninety-nine percent of the time, I decline calls from unrecognized numbers, but this time I answered. A team leader for the spring weekend was calling to see if I’d like to join them. How on earth did they get my name and number, I wanted to know. She wasn’t sure, but it turned out that sign-up sheet had wound its way from my friend’s table that Sunday morning to this women’s leadership team—and suddenly, there we were.  My interest in attending a closing morphed into an invitation to serve on the team.

Sometimes we are invited by others to join in a good work. But not every invitation to do something good is necessarily from God. They are often from very well-intentioned people but if they don’t fall in line with your passions and calling, they can suck your time and energy right out. Discernment is key.

Praying to know when to say no, I also prayed to know when to say the big YES when God invited me to join him at work. This was a weekend set aside to minister to women, my heart’s passion. All of the team meeting and prison volunteer training days were scheduled over six Saturdays, each lasting a full day.  Checking the dates against my calendar, I realized every single one was free from other commitments, as was the Kairos weekend itself.  I had no reason to say no. This was a big ol’ God invitation.

I found myself at the prison that day, confident I’d responded correctly to God’s invitation, but I didn’t have any idea why he’d invited me. Was I there for any reason other than putting skin on the hands and feet of Jesus for the weekend?

During my three-minute conversation with the young woman with the curly blonde hair, it all made perfect sense to God. I was sent as a sweet love note from God to this young woman, a reminder of her life “before,” a reminder that she was not forgotten.  Such extravagant love confounds my rational thinking.

The extravagant love God expressed to his chosen, beloved Israelites is the same love he has for us.

The Israelites had consistently chosen a path apart from God and had been exiled from their homeland, but God never forgot them. In fact, God promised them that when their time of exile was over, he would bring them back.

“I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:10-11)

In their most dire circumstances, God assured them he loved them, that he had plans for them to have a hope-filled future and a purpose. It was a promise fulfilled in God’s time.

The women I met in prison are not so different from the Israelites. They all made deliberate choices— some, like the Israelites, were decision upon decision upon decision—not to follow God. Others made one bad decision in a single moment. The result was the same. Incarceration means exile from their homes and families.

Kairos—a Greek word meaning In God’s Special Time—reminds the women they are loved, have a future full of hope, and are valued by God even in their place of exile. To remind them that he still has plans for them. They are not forgotten.

In God’s special time. Kairos is not guaranteed to everyone who wants to attend. And not everyone who attends asks to be there.  Those who do attend are selected by the prison bishop. The participants find out they are attending the week before the event. My young friend didn’t know she would be there any sooner, but God knew.

In God’s special time. I didn’t know I’d be part of that weekend when I wrote down my name and number, but God did. As far back as  October, his plans for her hope included me.

In God’s special time, he has plans for her, plans for her future, full of hope. And he went to great lengths to remind her of that.

God’s extravagant love for each and every single one of us means he is orchestrating events in our lives to place us exactly where he needs us to be so that others may know they are not forgotten. He is doing the same in others’ lives to show us exactly the same thing. No matter what we have done. No matter what our past looks like. No matter where we are in exile. God’s promise is as true today as it ever was.

He has plans for you. For a future full of hope, purpose, and promise. In God’s special time.

Denise Roberts loves doing life with her husband, Blake, morning snuggles with her one-hundred-pound chocolate Lab, French fries, and Chick-fil-A lemonade. She’s an empty-nester mom who prays she didn’t mess up her kids too badly. Her greatest joy is writing about her experiences when Jesus steps on her toes, picks her up, and dusts her off so others can discover him at the intersection of faith and life for themselves. Connect with her at www.deniseroberts.org.

Photograph © Jaelynn Castillo, used with permission