Disciple in a Strange Land

The last time I saw Billy at Leavenworth was on one of the final pastoral rounds I made there. I will never forget it. I was drawn to whistling coming from one of the cellblocks You have heard about a caged bird singing, but this was too bizarre to be real. Whistling in Leavenworth is like giggling in Dante's Inferno and is not something you hear everyday. But there he was. It was Billy, the young Navy lad I had interviewed when he first came. He was happier than I was. In fact he almost glowed with joy. Billy had a broom and was sweeping the hall just outside his cell and he was whistling as he swept. I was inspired by his cheerfulness myself.

He was so into his sweeping and whistling that I startled him when I approached and asked, "Billy, how's it going?" "Well, Chaplain, I am doing just fine!" He was smiling ear to ear. "Billy, it looks like you have learned how to live in this place." "Chaplain, what I have found is that Jesus can live this for me. And Jesus is here in this cell. And I am going to learn more about Him and learn to follow Him like never before. This is not a cell; this is my school of faith. Come look at the picture of my wife and daughter, Chaplain . . . "

You see, the truth of the Book of Daniel is that the love of a sovereign God knows no boundaries. He is the God named Jesus who comes to our Babylon and turns a place of exile into a sanctuary. Jesus comes to our Babylon in a manger, on a cross, through an empty tomb, through the Holy Spirit. And He lives in our hearts wherever we are.

Where is your Babylon? And how are you doing there? Complaining? Giving in? Or trusting? And where is your power coming from? Do I again hear whistling in the cell? Or is it the quiet voice of a gentle Savior saying, "I am here."

I was so taken by this book as your pastor and your lives testifying to me, that I wrote a song:

And He was there in the fire

He was there in the Lion's den

He was there working all things together

For good to those who love Him

And are called by Him

And that gives me hope

For my life

For he is there in my sorrow

He is there in my physical pain

He is there in the sunshine of life

And He's there in the seasons of rain

He is there

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NOTES:

1. Gleason Archer, "Daniel" in Frank E. Gaebelein, ed, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol 7 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985), 8.

2. James Montgomery Boice, Daniel: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1989), 21.

3. Bryan Chapell, Standing Your Ground: A Call to Courage in an Age of Compromise: Messages from Daniel (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1989), 37.