By: Ron M. of Aurora, CO, USA
I was not married at the time my oldest daughter was born.
My girlfriend and I broke up, and I missed my daughter very much.
I would go into the bathroom and pray that God would return them back to me, and He would remind me of how I would cry and pray. Then He allowed me to remember the pain I suffered when I lost them.
He then asked me, “Do you want to go through that again?”
And, I said “No.”
“Then you need me!”
I ignored that conversation and went on with my life.
One day, a friend of my wife’s came over to update her life insurance policy, because she wanted to put me on it.
I offered him a beer and he said, “I can face reality!”
My thought was ‘what are you trying to say, that I can’t?’
The more I talked to him, the more I didn’t want him in our house.
He told me, “Without the Love of Jesus, you won’t go very far.”
I told him that I had work to do and then he invited me to go to his Church to see a play. I told Him I would go.
I went outside to do the work I had to do.
Just then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of how I used to cry to him and ask him to return my family to me.
I will never forget the last time that I asked God to return my family to me and He didn’t, so I asked Him to either return them to me or send somebody that will love me just for who I am.
To top it off, that day I met my wife! We have now been married 38 years now.
The day came for the play, and I went. They gave an altar call to come and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and I didn’t go. I told the Pastor after the service that I wanted to go down there, but he didn’t ask me If I wanted to accept Jesus as my personal Savior.
We left the church and went home.
A few months had gone by, and my wife invited me to go to her Church. I told her that I would go on Easter Sunday morning.
I was impressed by the church; it was very nice inside. I didn’t see any saints along the walls. I was a Catholic, so it was definitely different than the inside of their churches.
When the Pastor of the Church started preaching, he said, “What if Jesus would ask, ‘What are you here for? To show off your new clothes? If you are, get out of here, and don’t come back until you are ready to serve me for the rest of your life!’”
After the service was over, my wife asked, “What did you think?”
I said, “I won’t go back there again.”
The following year was one of the most difficult times I had gone through in my whole life. I quit my job and tried working for myself, but God saw to it that I couldn’t get any work. I could not even get a job, and I had very good working skills.
My wife told me to go apply for food stamps, and I said, “No!”
She said that I needed to swallow my pride and go apply the next day. We went, and we were rejected for any public aid.
What a shame that was to me!
As time went on, I was driving down the road and I got a very sharp pain in my blind eye, so I pulled over, got out of the car and laid on the grass.
I went to an eye doctor shortly after that and he said that I would have to have my eye taken out because it would cause more problems down the road for my other eye.
I left there in tears just thinking of losing my eye.
I called my wife and tried to tell her what was going on, but I couldn’t speak, because I just started to cry.
She said, “Don’t worry, God will take care of you.”
That night I went to bed and I fell apart inside and started to remind God of all of the things I had gone through. I said, “Why did you even create me? First, I lit myself on fire, then I had a dart stuck in my eye and went blind in that eye. I couldn’t look at anybody without being put down. I couldn’t even take off my shirt without somebody saying how gross I was, because of my burns.”
I told God to just take my life, because, “I don’t want to live anymore, but,” I said, ”I am sorry for everything I said, I am sorry and that I tried to live life my own way and I need a new life. I want Jesus to take over my life, now.”
Praise God, He gave me a new life!
The next day, my wife called told me to call this other doctor so I did. I explained to him what had happened and he said to come in to his office.
He examined me and said, “Let me relieve you of your heartache. I can save your eye but it will require surgery.”
I had the surgery done and had to spend the night in the hospital. The doctor came to visit me that night to tell me that it appeared to be okay. The next day I was taken down to get the bandages removed.
He said, “Let’s see if you can see.”
After he removed the bandages, I told him that I could see, and it was like the Lord was hugging me, and He and I were watching the doctor working on me. The doctor removed the bandages and I was able to see for the very first time in 25 years!
I am reminded now about how the blind man, in Mark 8:22-26, came to Bethsaida, and the disciples brought a blind man to Jesus and asked Him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Can you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes, and his eyes were opened! His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
That is what I am looking forward to, the day I can see Jesus with both eyes!
Praise THE LORD for the blessings he has given me.
©2018 Mark Davis
Continue Reading:
- YOU’RE DEAD — NOW WHAT?
- How Many Ways Are There To Get To Heaven?
- How Can Adversity Be Good?
- Why Would YOU Want To Be A Christian?
- Jesus Really Does Love You
- Assurance Of An Eternal Heaven
