The Power of God's Word to Transform: A True Story

Have you ever wondered in difficult circumstances is the Word of God really true? You may even be in a place of unbelief like the father of the child in the Bible who was ill with convulsions (Mark 9:23,24). Sometimes what you see with your eyes and experience with your senses may overwhelm you and cause you to doubt what God has said. Scripture says that the Word of God is alive and full of power (Hebrews 4:12). It confirms that it is life and health to the flesh (Proverbs 4:22). The Old Testament says that it is fire and a hammer that breaks things to pieces (Jeremiah 23:29). Isaiah 55:11 states that God is watching over His Word to perform it; it will not return to Him void without fulfilling its purpose. Joshua was instructed to meditate on the Word day and night, then he would be prosperous and have good success (Joshua 1:8). But then life comes at you, and causes you to wonder…

I want to share with you an experience of the power of the Word. I taught Bible study in the local jail for many years. It is through this experience that I will tell my story. I will begin by giving the one incarcerated, a fictional name, Dotty. In setting the scene, let me explain that there was about five or six cells as I recall, with no opportunity for the women to see one another due to the wall in-between. Of course, they could hear each other perfectly well. I was not informed why each person was serving jail time.

When I first met Dotty, she would hide herself in the back of the cell and would not make eye contact with me. Her facial expression was one of fear and sadness, like one without hope. Each Tuesday I would teach Bible study from a guide distributed to each person in the cell block area. I would pace back and forth before each cell as the Word of God was spoken. Everyone participated but Dotty. She would not even take the paperwork from me.

Week after week I provided a lesson, until one evening Dotty actually approached the front of her cell. The following week, she took the paper from me. After several more weeks, she began to participate. Over a period of months Dotty’s facial features seemed to change. There was a softening, a slight smile. Something was happening to Dotty! She became very outspoken during each meeting, in a good way. Dotty actually began to demonstrate that she was listening to God’s Word and grasping understanding of it. She was ministering kindness and love through her words to others. It was extraordinary!

During one evening at the jail, the conversation became a bit intense. One of the ladies was crying and complaining about her situation and her life. Dotty started to minister to her from the Word of God! The upset continued and that is when Dotty testified about her own situation. As the cell block became silent, Dotty confirmed that she had assisted her husband in the death of her child… This kind woman who was now ministering to others, would spend her days behind bars, yet, she was alluding peace and compassion and support toward other women in the midst of great horror and sin.

Dotty had been transformed by God’s grace through His Word. She knew that she was forgiven and loved by Jesus; she accepted the life that He offered her. No one in Dotty’s family were born-again Christians. Dotty shared God’s Word with them by letters, and they too became children of the Father. I had the pleasure of meeting Dotty’s grandmother, who expressed tremendous gratitude and praise to the Lord and the power of His Word.

To put an explanation mark to this, one evening a guard stopped me and asked, “What has happened to Dotty? She is a different person. When I am having a bad day, she always encourages me and lifts me up! If I met her on the street we would likely be best friends!” I explained the change was God! The power of God’s Word does transform!