Prison Walls Speak God’s Word
One of the prisons that Haralan Popov was taken to had words all over the cell walls. Popov says that they seemed to almost be like a diary or journal of the condemned men who had been there – they had etched their thoughts, prayers, hopes and dreams into these walls, and he felt as if he knew them as he read what they had scratched into the paint.
Cell Wall Ministry
Popov writes this: “I made it a practice to scratch Bible verses and words of comfort on the walls of every cell I occupied, hoping those words would bring comfort and help to the next occupant. Cell walls were not only the ‘paper’ on which I scratched Bible verses, but later were the ‘sounding board’ for the ‘Prison Telegraph’ on which I tapped the Word of God to men in adjacent cells. How wonderful and just, I thought, that the walls built to imprison men would become ‘paper’ for the Word of God and the ‘wire’ for the Prison Telegraph to send forth the Good News.”
I thought this was inspiring in two ways: first, his determination to do good for God even in such a seemingly helpless place. Isn’t it wonderful how Popov uses the very walls which imprisoned him to do good? I saw a post on Facebook the other day that lamented how evil cellphones are, how much destruction and sin they bring into our lives. And I thought, yes, but they can also be instruments for good. It all depends on how you use it.
How can you use things around you to do good in your life? Even using things that might have been meant for bad – could you use them for good?
And the second inspiring thought that came out of this passage for me was how Popov believed in the powerful Word of God. He knew that God’s Word has great power to comfort, to save, to make new. And so he made that his aim – to share God’s Word with the people in the cells.
The Power of God's Word
Do you know God’s Word to be not just true, but powerful and transformative? In your own life, God’s Word will bring you such hope and peace and joy if you will spend much time reading it, and believing its promises to be true for you.
I have put together a Bible in 2 years reading plan, and it has been a wonderful blessing reading a good solid chunk of God’s Word each day. I have felt it move me, cleanse me, inspire me, help me day by day. We don’t have to receive God’s Word through scratchings on a prison wall or being tapped through the wall, we have it available right here right now on our phones, let’s use it and get stuck into it.
Thank God for the lives God changed through Haralan Popov’s commitment. Let our lives reflect a similar commitment to sharing God’s Word with others, and reading it a lot ourselves.
