New!

 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

I have written in my prayer journal, "There is no place so dark and hopeless that He cannot come and save you." I have witnessed the truth of this in my life, as well as in the lives of many others. I'd like to share some of the story of one such life with you.

It was nearly 30 years ago that a young father and husband came to our church. He'd found one of our flyers and he was looking for hope. His marriage was crumbling and he was caught in the throes of deep depression. I'd like to say that he immediately discovered Christ and his life began to improve. That wasn't the case. Like so many, he desired more but he couldn't let go of all that kept him from it. I would go and visit with him as often as I could. We talked, but he never seemed to move beyond the darkness that gripped his life. Yet God was working. On one such visit, I found him sitting in his living room, alone and in the dark. I sensed that everything was worsening, but I had no idea how much worse it was getting. 

Not long after that visit, on a cold winter evening, I got a call from his wife. She couldn't wake him up. She'd found an empty bottle of pills on the nightstand and she knew he'd taken far too many of them. She asked me to come and help. I've no idea why me and not 911, but God never ceases His work. When I got there he was barely conscious. Somehow, I was able to manhandle him down the stairs and out into my car. I drove him to the ER of the nearest hospital. He'd tried to take his life and the medical team was able to save him. He eventually recovered, and though the hospital tried to get him to check in to their psychiatric wing, he refused. He went home, and the darkness increased.

His wife, saying she'd had all she could take with him, demanded he leave. He did, and for a few days, he stayed with me. His wife eventually allowed him to return, but things only grew darker and worse. I set him up with a good counselor I knew, but after a few sessions, he stopped going. His wife again demanded he leave. This time for good. But this was not the end of the story. Someone once wrote a book titled, "God Works The Night Shift." He certainly worked this one. There have been people that I've had to step back from and leave in the hands of the Lord. I couldn't do so with this man. Our fellowship took him in, literally. One of the families invited him into their home and we simply loved on him....and God kept working.

He continued to deal with depression, and he experienced setbacks, but he didn't give up, we didn't give up, and God will never give up. Someone said that the Father specializes in renovation projects except that we don't get to move out while He does His work of transformation. God rebuilt this man from the inside out. So much so that one Sunday morning he stood and testified to a miraculous transformation. He said that he'd been driving along as the evening was coming and as he topped a rise, he beheld the most beautiful sunset he'd ever seen. He said that this was the first time he'd felt his heart and spirit surge with joy and hope. With that testimony began the formation of a man who eventually literally shone with the joy of the Lord. It was one of the most incredible works of transformation I have ever seen, and it was all due to the patient, persistent work of the Holy Spirit. For him, all things really had become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 is true, and though you may be in the place where that man was or are praying for someone who is, don't give up. Don't look at what is going on outwardly. Trust what He is doing from within. His Light does pierce the darkness. His Life does crush death. Joy does come in the morning. There is no place so far removed from Him that He cannot come there and save and deliver. I think it starts, as someone said, with the simple prayer, "Jesus, come and get me." Scripture promises that He will come and save you. Put that promise to the test.

Blessings,
Pastor O