| “A Friend In Tough Times” Copyright (c) Dec. 1999 Debi Gentry The door slammed, and Steve yelled, “I don’t care what you think......” The nightmare of the past raced through my memory. As I wiped the tears rolling off my cheeks, I thought, “Oh Lord, why must my son, Dusty, and I go down this path again? This hurts so badly.” The force of the banging door echoed and re-echoed through my tense, tired brain. I watched Steve’s unsteady foot-steps cross the living room. I was painfully aware that once more he had been drinking. I’d seen tears. I’d seen his sorrow over his behavior before. I knew he was a very unhappy man trying to find relief and love in a bottle. At this point in my life I was also searching for the answers to life’s problems. I knew only too well that the solutions to my problems didn’t lie in the bottom of a can or bottle. I was beginning to turn my life over to Jesus. It was thrilling to find Someone so loving, so understanding, so compassionate. I felt He was so awesome He must have the answers to at least some of my questions. While pondering how my new heavenly Friend would deal with this situation, the phone rang. Jesus must have inspired my new earthly friend, Nancy, to call. She detected discouragement in my voice. “Debi,” she asked, whats wrong?” “Nothing, really.” I retorted. She knew I was hiding my pent up feelings. Somehow her compassion broke down my emotional barriers, and I realized I could trust this new friend with the pain of my life. I shared the sad news that Steve was drinking heavily. He was not a Christian, and he deeply resented my Christian friends. He wanted nothing to do with any of them. At least that’s how it seemed to me that night. “Debi, put him on the phone,” Nancy pleaded. “What?” I almost shouted into the receiver. “You’ve got to be kidding!” “No, I’m not kidding,” she responded kindly. “Do you really think he will talk to you? Hmm....You know he doesn’t like you.” “That’s okay. Just put him on anyway.” “All right, I’ll try.” I sighed but with little hope that I could persuade him. As Steve came stumbling out of the bedroom I informed him that my friend Nancy wanted to talk to him. “What? Nancy wants to talk to me? Why?” “She just does.” With a gruff “Hello,” he took the phone. “Hi, my name is Nancy. I’m a friend of Debi’s.” “I know.” “So what is going on? Is there anything you want to talk about?” “No.” “Okay,” she responded and proceeded to talk about his job, the weather, the latest news and other every day topics. Suddenly Steve switched the conversation abruptly. “I don’t want to hurt Debi anymore.” “Why do you think you are hurting her?” “I’m drunk, and I keep saying bad things to her. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to lose her and Dusty.” I heard this heartwarming news, but I felt these were just words. I was tempted to doubt there would be any change in his behavior. “Oh, you of little faith,” (Matt. 6:30)--that was where I was. These were my thoughts as Nancy and Steve continued talking for 30 minutes. Finally he returned the phone to me. Nancy told me she had urged him to go to his bedroom, get down on his knees, and pray like he has never prayed before. My feelings were on a merry-go-round. Could God use Nancy to reach my husband for Christ even in his drunken state? Surely not now, but maybe some other time. Would Jesus take time to listen to his muddled thoughts? Could I hope for a happy home? Have I put Jesus in a “if-you-do-this-I-will-love-you” box? Nancy listened patiently to my anxious ramblings and then urged, “Just go to bed and TRUST and BELIEVE.” Before settling down for the night I flipped through the Bible and found this powerful verse. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” Matt. 7:7 NKJV. It was God’s two-by-four treatment to my troubled mind. The words struck me that my precious new friend, Jesus, had solutions to my problems. I could trust him completely. Two miracles happened that night. Steve became a changed man. Jesus didn’t just hear the ramblings of a benumbed brain. He heard one of His struggling children reaching out for help. Romans 8:26 was truly fulfilled: “the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The next day was the last hangover Steve ever had! The hope, love, and strength he had been looking for were no longer in a bottle but in Jesus. Praise His name! The second miracle was in my own soul. I learned a powerful lesson. “With (Debi) men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God “all” things are possible.” Mark 10:27. And as our family life turned around, I experienced the reality of Jeremiah 29:11...... “For I know the thoughts I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” How I thank Jesus every day for His love! And loving us when we are “unlovable”! |
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