No One Inside

“But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, ‘Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.’ … 

“The court officers (who went to the jail to have them brought in) did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported, ‘We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.’” From Acts 5:17-26

It sometimes feels to me as if I am imprisoned, held captive by my past; by judgmentalism; by my wrong impulses and compulsions; by regrets; by religious and cultural edicts that withhold and obscure Truth. By so many things, too many things, I am jailed.

And there is the angel, opening the doors of the prison – yes, leading me out, freeing me from all that would bind me. Freeing me to take my place, to tell the story of freedom, the story of the resurrection.

When people to come to look for me inside the prison, I want them to find no one inside. To find it inexplicably, startlingly empty. To wonder at its emptiness. Where is she? I want to be found in my God-given place, among the free, telling “the people everything about this life.”

Can I believe the angel? Is the prison door truly open? I will know by walking out. Today, may I walk out in freedom, take the place God has prepared, and tell the story of this glorious, abundant, miraculous freedom. Today, may you also walk out of the jail. May we all take our place of freedom and tell the wondrous story.