God wants to reveal his work in all of us.

In 1989, a robbery charge landed me back in prison, where I asked Christ into my life. But before he could use me he had to change me, on the inside. An unlikely outcome, I thought, until I discovered that God specializes in unlikely outcomes.

The Israelites experienced an unlikely outcome at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21). Samson also experienced an unlikely outcome at the end of his life. God answered his repentant prayer and “those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life” (Judges 16:30).

What God did in the past, however, is not the measure of what he will do now. God’s power and creativity is not limited to what he has experienced. The irony is that at the moment I need him the most my faith wavers. Why? It’s because my imagination is limited to my experiences. But that’s the whole point. God wants to make himself known to me through my experiences. My faith should not be based on what he has done for others but on who he is—the sovereign God of the Universe, the God of the unlikely outcomes.

With 20-some years having passed since my arrest and incarceration, I can testify that I never anticipated the unique ways I would experience God. Every day brings struggles, tests and heartaches into my life. But every day I experience God and every day become more aware of how much he loves me.

When I was sentenced to prison in 1989, the future looked uncertain. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see any of my friends or family again. I didn’t even know if I was going to ever get out. Life seemed hopeless. But when I began to trust in God, my faith gave me hope, and I experienced the unlikely outcomes, unique and unexpected things. My priorities changed.

Trusting God gave my life direction, purpose and meaning. Every day became a blessing. Yes, even in prison. Not only did God change me, my desires changed. Now what God wanted was more important than what I wanted.

That doesn’t mean I don’t experience troubles, pains or failures. Life is still a battle. But nothing can keep God from accomplishing his purposes for my life (Romans 8:28).
An unlikely outcome does not always mean all the experiences will be good. God’s unforeseeable ways don’t always coincide with what we think is in our best interest. For example: We find life by dying (John 12:22). We are exalted when we humble ourselves (Matthew 23:12). We become great by becoming small (Matthew 23:11). It is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of an unlikely outcome is found in “a man who was blind from birth” (John 9:2-3). Jesus’ disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” (vs. 2).

“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him’ ” (vs. 3).

When we look back at the experiences in our lives, like the Israelites, Samson and the blind man Jesus healed, we see that God has an unlikely outcome planned for all his children.

God wants to reveal his work through all of us. For most of us, it is something we never expected. Like the blind man who never thought life had a purpose for him. He lived in darkness for years unaware of God’s plan for his life.

The sovereign God of the universe still specializes in the unlikely outcomes. I never imagined I would come to prison and write Christian articles and stories that would touch people’s hearts. But it is not what God has done through me, as great as that is, that is so unique and unexpected, but what he has done inside me. God’s grace changed me. I was blind, but now I see. For, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Roy A. Borges is a prisoner in Orlando, Fla.