Craig Clouston

 Brokenhearted Prisoners

February 4

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Isaiah 61:1

She spilled some of the precious liquid as muscle spasms caused a twitch. Cooking the smack was getting harder. It was just before 11:00 a.m., and her stash was gone. She’d care in about two hours, just not right now. Firing the load, she fell back on the couch, the rush driving every thought from her mind. That’s what she was after, numbness. She wanted the pain to go away.

For a sixteen-year-old, childhood seemed so long ago. Two hours later, she came to in restraints in the psych ward of a hospital where she underwent detox. She wasn’t sure when the young woman had begun visiting. She’d started out just sitting with her. By the end of the first week, she was helping her dress and eat. 

Then one day the young woman didn’t come. In her place was a book with a note paper clipped to it. The note read, “The rest is up to you. This saved my life; it can save yours too.” With tears running down her cheeks, she opened it at the bookmark. There was a verse highlighted with a name superimposed over two words; it read, “For God so loved Janet that he gave his one and only Son,” (John 3:16). Tears flowed unabated as she sobbed. She didn’t know what her next move was; she just knew she couldn’t live like a prisoner anymore.

†

Addiction takes many forms, stealing the soul of millions of God’s Creation, leaving them destitute and alone. Many die, still searching for that elusive “first high,” not understanding their motives, and never having known or experienced the love of Christ.

Those who have been rescued from addiction know it’s impossible to attain true victory on your own. In Christ alone can we find the strength to live. He will bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free!

Prayer

“Saving Lord, we petition for the souls of those lost in addiction. Draw them near, tear down the veil the enemy keeps in place, and set the captives free. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”