Yesterday was a difficult day for me almost from the time I got up at 2 a.m. until I went to bed at 11 p.m. last night. It was one of those days where nothing seemed to work well. Although I woke up in my usual good mood, it soured early with disappointment after disappointment.
I had a busy day starting off with writing Words for the Day, finishing another chapter for my new book, meeting with various people that were visiting Honey Lake, dealing with problems and employees, taking phone calls, listening to voice mails, and still wading through the 642 e-mails left over from my recent trip.
My last meeting for the day was a particularly long one, and then I had to get ready to go speak at the Tallahassee Teen Challenge fund raiser that evening. By now I’d developed a splitting headache, probably because I faced my stress filled day with not enough nourishment, having eaten only a small bowl of soup with some crackers all day.
My wife attended the fund raiser with me and as we were walking up to the building, I remarked that I wished that I didn’t have to speak tonight. I whined that my schedule had been brutal for the last few weeks and I was tired. She looked at me with an unsympathetic eye and told me that I needed to “man up” and pray for strength, because there were hurting people in there that needed to hear my testimony.
I glared at her for her lack of empathy, but knew she was right and that satan was attacking me. The place was packed and I would estimate that maybe 500 were in attendance. I was ashamed of myself and once inside I did pray that God would remove all distractions, strengthen me, and help me through the evening.
As the night transpired we came to a part that I truly loved and that is when the Teen Challenge choir sang several songs and gave their testimony. All of them had big genuine smiles on their faces and they were singing for all they were worth. I knew first hand the sorrow and grief they had caused for various members within their families by their addictions and resulting poor behavior, as well as the personal hell they’d gone through in their wretched lives prior to getting into Teen Challenge. It was a good feeling seeing them smiling again, because there is not much to smile about on the mean streets of drug and alcohol addiction.
Finally it was time for me to speak. I was using a lavaliere microphone clipped to my lapel. The problem was that it didn’t work.
Hmmm… No problem, several other microphones were spread across the stage to pick up the guitar playing musicians and the singing, and I walked over to one of them and found a hot one and began giving my testimony.
After a few minutes, it quit working.
Hmmm…I walked over to another microphone and it was working so I continued giving my testimony, but after a few minutes it quit working.
Egad! I went back to the microphone I had previously been using and now it was working again. Now that’s strange – I continued with my talk and then it quit working.
I went back to the previous and now it was working again!
Yikes! What’s going on?
Now all of this was happening as I was giving my testimony and I was trying to concentrate and not miss a beat, but admittedly it was all very strange and beginning to spook me out. Someone shouted out that satan was trying to prevent my words from being spoken and I smiled at him and said you’re probably right. I wondered out loud if I might be hallucinating. After all I’ve taken LSD and other similar drugs perhaps a thousand times.
Finally one of the Teen Challenge gurus came onstage, turned off my lavaliere microphone, adjusted something and the center mic worked fine for the rest of the evening with no more distractions.
After it was over I signed books for perhaps an hour and many people came by and told me they were encouraged by my testimony. Though tired, I was glad that God gave me the great privilege and honor to minister to so many hurting people and be allowed to inspire them and assure them that that hope is not lost even when someone sinks to the low level that I reached in my misspent youth.
All of that was well and good, but my main purpose was to help that fine organization raise money. It costs them $2000 bucks just to open the doors every day. Most of the people that end up there have burned all bridges with family, court systems, friends, et al. and don’t have two nickels to rub together, much less a bunch of money to pay to get into the Betty Ford clinic.
If it weren’t for Teen Challenge, they would probably never get help, but God speaks to people to open their hearts and wallets to support Teen Challenge, even if it’s just sending $25 per month and lives are changed as a result. Aside from some car washes and similar income earning events Teen Challenge is funded entirely by donations. May God richly bless those of you who support this organization.
Maybe you don’t have a testimony that speaks to the power of God to transform your life, but God uses all sorts of people in His body of Christ, His church. Most anyone can contribute something. For some its money, and others it might be time, or skills. There are big needs out there. This particular organization is VERY effective in combating addictions and it changes lives just like mine from one of crime and squalor to productivity.
I urge you to contribute to them, because by so doing, you are doing it for Jesus Christ. But don’t take my word for it, listen to the Spirit…Selah
Matt. 25:31
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”