Rescue Story 1

 I just finished watching an interview with singer-songwriter Zach Williams, who wrote and sang the powerful songs, Chainbreaker and Rescue Story, about how he came to Christ. My heart resonated with what he said.

Williams was raised by Christian parents but rejected their faith and set out on the life he believed he wanted. First it was to be a professional basketball player, but his drug use and injuries ended that. Then he discovered an interest in music that he never recognized before. He realized he had a talent for playing guitar and singing, and he embarked on a career in rock music and a wholehearted pursuit of fame. His choices had a devastating effect on his life and marriage as both were completely falling apart. He began to talk to the God he'd for so long rejected. He asked that this God, if He was real, would show him that He was real. He said that his band was on tour in Europe, and while on a bus in Spain, staring blankly out a window, the driver, searching for music, came upon a song titled, "Redeemed." As Williams listened to the song, He sensed both the presence and love of the Father. He and his band soon returned to the U.S., and not long after, he came to Christ on the floor of the closet in his home.

In the interview, Williams was asked why he cried out to Christ. He said, "I didn't want to be who I am anymore." Though much of his story did resonate with my heart, it was these words more than any others that laid hold of me. That was exactly how I was thinking 45 years ago in July of 1979. My life was falling apart, parties, getting high, pursuing women, and always the wrong ones. It all came to a head on the floor of an apartment of some friends. I was sitting in the middle of a room full of partiers, and someone took a polaroid picture and showed it to me. In the midst of that crowd, I looked totally lost, totally hopeless, totally miserable. I knew in my heart that if something in my life didn't change, the ultimate end, and not very far off, would be death. Like Williams, I didn't want to be me anymore. I didn't want to be who I was anymore.....That's when the rescue story began to come together.

A year before that photo, I'd been at my High School reunion. An old drug buddy was also there, but he'd become a vibrant believer. He wouldn't stop telling me about Jesus and I couldn't get away from him as he did. Finally, I broke free, but not without his giving me a handful of tracts about the Lord. For some reason, I didn't throw them away but dumped them in a drawer when I got home. One year later, my life was in turmoil. I opened the drawer, read the tracts, and I remembered thinking that it would surely be good to see the guy who'd given them to me again. A few days later, he walked into the store I managed. He didn't know I worked there but said he'd felt led to come in. We talked. He invited me to his church. I went. A few weeks later, in the dining room of the home I grew up in, I cried out to Jesus. He came.....and I was no longer who I was anymore. I was a new creation in Him. He promised to make all things new in me, and He did. He still does, and I'll detail more of that in my next writing. The Rescue Story - Pt 2

Blessings,

Pastor O