Trusting in God

By Carl Kimbro, Fellowship Bible Church Celebrate Recovery Devotional Team, 5/19/21

Cheryl and I have raised 3 boys. While they were growing up, I took the boys to church and the church raised the boys to have a relationship with Jesus. I see now that I was too busy climbing the corporate ladder to have time for anything else at the time. I went through the motions of being a family man and an involved Christian, but later realized that I clearly wasn’t.

We thought we had everything going in the right direction, but then things started to go south. One of our sons (Jason) had problems in school. Alcohol and pot took over his life, and he was expelled in the 12th grade. Over the next 4 years he went in and out of county jail and stopped going to church. During all of this we had our ups and downs, but we still continued to put our trust in God.

Around 2011 Jason married Lauren, a woman with similar problems. About a year after one of our Granddaughter's, Regan, was born, things started to change. November 7, 2012 was Jason’s birthday. It was also a day of drunken fighting between him and Lauren. I called the police and he locked himself in the house with the girls. Eventually the police broke the door down and he went off to an 18 month stint in the state prisons. Lauren and the girls moved in with us and peace of any kind became a thing of the past.

January 2013 Lauren left the girls with us and never came back. We felt alone, lost, and hopeless. Instead of trusting in God, I was working in exchange for Him giving me a favorable response. Soon I turned to an addiction that only made it worse. I hid it from everyone, continuing to try to white-knuckle it and fix things myself. It didn't work and soon our lives fell apart and we just couldn’t go on like that anymore.

My life was out of control!!  When we were at our darkest point, I began attending Celebrate Recovery. I turned all of it over to God and began the healing process. I spoke openly in Open Share Groups and found people who really cared about us. I found accountability partners and joined a Step Study. That’s when I finally felt God was with us in this situation and things began to change.

Isaiah 41:13 probably best describes the change in my life as it was the 1st time I felt God’s presence in all of this. The verse says

For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.

People came into our lives that had walked through what we were walking through and could mentor us. I backed off on work and stopped hiding at the office. We were able to see the good in having the our sweet Granddaughter's with us. Life change we never dreamed possible took place for us. At Celebrate Recovery you hear "Don't quit before your miracle happens" and now I personally know what that means!

I hope this message encourages you to reach out. You don't have to overcome your struggles alone. God is ready and waiting for you.  He will put the right people in your life.   Life change is possible! Put your trust in God! Hope to see you soon at Celebrate Recovery!

Click HERE to listen to "Where Your Heart Is" by Lydia Laird

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