This week we had the privilege of hearing from Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge and for those who don’t know, Teen Challenge is a Christian treatment program for men who have struggled with drug or alcohol addiction. They minister through song and personal testimony. As I was talking with one of the guys after the Saturday night service a couple of things hit me when hearing his story. The first one is that when we get that nagging gut feeling it’s often God nudging us to do something. How often do we know we should do something but we find every excuse to not do it, but God keeps bringing it up. When we finally do it, God provides a way for it to happen and something usually wonderful happens.
The second thing I realized is that we can either run and hide from our issues or deal with them. A lot of the guys who go to Teen Challenge, it’s either a choice between prison or the treatment program at Teen Challenge. It’s a choice either to prison and yes serve time, but the issues don’t have to be dealt with. By going to Teen Challenge, the guys are taking responsibility for their choices and are looking to deal and beat their addiction. The work is long and hard, but they get to know and be transformed by Gods grace while developing healthy community.
We may not have an addiction to drugs or alcohol, but all of us have things we struggle with. My question is, are we willing to admit our struggles and put in the hard work to deal with them or do we brush them off or even try and hide them. Eventually those struggles and sin will come to light and be known by the world. They usually come out at the wrong time and wrong place.
So here is my question. What is your story? What are the things you have struggled with and overcome, are you willing to be like the guys from Teen Challenge? They are vulnerable enough to share their stories and struggles with complete strangers and we have a hard time doing it with people we know. What would it take for you to either share your struggles with someone or hear theirs?
My story is this, I have stifled with my weight for most of my life and it has lead to some issues like being diabetic, skin infections and other issues. About sixteen months ago I spent a week in the hospital because I was retaining fluid and I was a hurtin. Through some lifestyle adjustments and medication changes, I have dropped about 125 lbs and my diabetes is under control and I’m seeing my dr less, which is a good thing. I now can breath and move better. One of the things I enjoy doing is going to local state parks to take pictures. The two pictures above is of me at Grand Portage State Park a couple of weeks ago and I don’t know if I could have done that sixteen months ago. So what is your story of how Gods grace has changed you and are you sharing it to encourage others?
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