He Can't Make It...Or Can He?

Psalm 147:3 - "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." [NIV]

“Oh, my God! I had never seen anything like that!” exclaimed one of my co-workers as I was examining a male inmate, brought by the unit deputy.

He was grimacing in pain. He couldn’t sit up straight, complaining of pain coming from his back. He couldn’t sit right. He was trying to not put pressure on the right buttock. With both wrists secured by a handcuff, he kept moaning slightly.

The deputy pulled me aside. He said, “Ma’am, I just wanted you to know, I never hit him anywhere but only to his left forehead and maybe just the stomach area.”

The inmate just got booked and was just housed in their unit. While waiting to be assigned to have his own bed, the inmate rose to his feet and took a stance. Raising both of his fists up, he was going to aim at the deputy. That was a big mistake! The deputy who went to months or years of training for defense, got him first. In no time, the inmate was down on the floor, subdued and both wrists secured right away with a handcuff.

I lifted the man’s shirt on the back. To see where his complaint of pain was coming from. The deputy had a good reason for telling me where he hit the inmate. On the left side of this man’s body, there were 2 huge visible marks, a big welt with severe discoloration. One on the left buttock, close to the hip and one on the lateral side. But I knew it wasn’t caused by a blow. It looked more like an abscess. Lifting the shirt higher, I found 2 more bumps that looked the same as the previous abscesses. One closer to the right hip and where he was complaining of pain the most was coming from the biggest abscess on the right lower buttock. No wonder he couldn’t sit straight!

“Sir, you have to tell me where these infected areas came from! Were you using heroin?”

“Yes,” was the soft reply with a slight shaking of his head, afraid of what was discovered.

“I had someone shoot it into my back! And I use it everyday!” he added.

“Whewww….,” my co-worker uttered when she saw these. “I had never seen anyone shoot heroin into their backs. Those looked awful. I don’t think he’ll change,” she commented.

I sent the man to the hospital for further evaluation and treatment. I would like to believe, too that there was no more hope in his situation. So trapped in the web of heroin use. But so, it would be the same for others, trapped in adultery, other substance abuse, robbery, pornography, and I could go on and on. But you know what…That was us thinking…Humans…So limited with knowledge and understanding. What we wanted to believe wouldn’t be the same for God Who believed in restoration and healing, otherwise. The One Who sent His own Son to die on the cross to set all of humanity free. That is…if we believe. In that truth!

I pray that most of the heroin users I come in contact with, will discover that their false source of peace and comfort and elation from using this illegal substance is only temporary and destructive. True peace and comfort only comes from knowing Jesus Christ! That’s the truth!