Genesis 39:23 The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.

Chuck Colson was an influential advisor to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s. He was known as tough, cunning, and powerful. When the scandal was exposed, he was convicted and sent to prison. His reputation was destroyed. His career was over.

But during that dark time, he experienced a spiritual turnaround. In prison, he began reading, praying, and searching for God. He later said that it was there that he realised, “I had lost everything, but I had found God.” Like Joseph, he discovered that God is not confined to the halls of a palace. God is present in the silence of the cell, too.

Remarkably, even within the prison walls, Chuck became a sanctuary for others; his fellow inmates soon began seeking him out for counsel and prayer. After his release, he started Prison Fellowship, a global ministry that supports prisoners and their families. What was intended as punishment became a calling.

Like Joseph, Chuck Colson learned: prison does not have to be the end of your story. When the Lord is with you, even a cell can become a place of growth, influence, and new beginnings.

Maybe you’ve done something that wasn’t so nice. Or maybe you’ve always tried to walk a straight path. Whatever your story is, God is with you. And more: He wants to use you, just as you are, to make an impact in the lives of others.

God uses prison inmates. God uses ordinary people like you and me. God wants to reach the people in our lives through us. Just as He blessed the warden because Joseph was there, and just as He blessed other inmates because Chuck was there, God wants to use us, too.

No matter where we find ourselves, God is already there. God wants to work through us to reach other people. I know it may sound strange, and we often wonder how God manages to hit a straight shot with crooked sticks like us. But that’s God’s business.

God uses people like you and me just as we are. We must understand that. Let’s find places where people need God and go and live there. Because we are there, God is there, and no one needs to worry.

Prayer
Father, use me and work through me to bless the people around me …

Questions
Do I currently feel written off or forgotten?
Do I believe that God can use me even in my darkest season?
Do I build my identity on people’s approval or on God’s presence?

Do this now
Think of a place today where you feel you aren’t noticed.
Thank God that He sees you, even when people don’t.
Go do something small today to notice and encourage someone else.