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Thanks
Be To God
by Major Danielle
Strickland
I walked around my old stomping grounds
downtown Toronto last week when I was visiting the city. I
took this picture of the Old City Hall. In the basement of
this building is a jail cell that held me while I awaited a
court hearing. I was a messed up, broken, addicted young woman
– so very lost. A Salvation Army officer, Lt. Col. Joyce
Ellery worked at the Headquarters just down the street and she
came to visit me.
She came armed with a lawyers card and a
hug. She hugged me and whispered in my ear that she loved me.
I did not get it. It would be very true to say I did not
receive it. I was too hard, too lost, too broken, too high.
But when Joyce left my cell, I was all alone and that’s when
He came. Jesus showed up in that cell. I can’t really explain
it to you. But somehow, I had an experience of a spiritual
nature that felt VERY real. He showed up in my jail cell and
did the exact same thing that Joyce had done. He hugged me and
whispered in my ear that he loved me. That’s when everything
started to change. I describe it as someone turning on a
light.
Now, when I say this we go all Disney in our
heads. We imagine that Jesus sprinkled magic fairy dust on me
and I was forever changed, transformed in an instant. This is
not what happened. What happened was the false image of God I
had was shattered. I thought God was mad at me (for good
reason). I thought I was in trouble (I was in jail!). But
Jesus came with open arms and unconditional love. He welcomed
me home.
So, it’s true to say that I began to see
things another way. I even saw my own pathetic condition. In
my drugged rebellion I thought jail was kind of badass. I was
excelling at it. But love opened my eyes to see the truth of
the situation I was in. I woke up to who God was and who I
was. I saw that I was broken and messed up and all alone and
locked up. I suddenly saw things for what they truly were.
Perhaps this is what Jesus means when He says the truth will
set us free?
So, I began a journey. The invitation to
follow Jesus started in a holding cell in that City Hall all
those many years ago. It’s been a long road since then. An
adventurous life filled with pain and joy, success and
failure, and one I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Thanks be to God. May you find Him now.
As I stood outside that building I couldn’t
help but remember the words of Psalm 103 which I’m writing on
Thanksgiving Day in Los Angeles 26 years later.
Let all that I am praise the LORD;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy
name.
Let all that I am praise the LORD;
may I never forget the good things he does
for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
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