Jeremiah 23: 21 – 24
21“I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.
22“But if they had stood in My council, then they would have announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.
23“Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?
24“Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
“The honeymoon is over” is a phrase used to convey a message that boils down to “Okay, get back to work now, we’ve put up with you being on vacation long enough” and that the period of grace for being “new” is over.
In its most literal context, it also (sadly) reflects so many marriages where the love and the romance of courting and the bliss after the wedding have vanished and all that’s left is the slog and boring routine of keeping a family afloat.
All of these interpretations can be applied to the Chaplaincy at Chester County Prison. Being the “new” chaplain since April 1, is no longer an excuse or a cover to hide behind. The sheer volume of work and wonderful opportunities generated by 900 plus inmates on a daily basis leave no room for “mistakes” and complacency.
There is a real spiritual war happening for which I request (no, beg) intentional and concerted prayer. Dealing wisely, lovingly on a daily basis with inmates and staff of whom some may be antagonistic, agnostic, Satanists, Buddhists, Islamic, overly bureaucratic, or
simply religious is very demanding.
By God’s grace, we have seen (verse 22b) many “victories”: souls saved, tearful conversions from sin, idols and other religions, joyful baptisms, relieved faces and voices of inmates, mothers and other loved ones, reports of successful reentry, hundreds of Bibles distributed…the list goes on.