IT TAKES WHAT IT TAKES!

Isn’t it interesting that we sometimes make assumptions, but then find out what we thought to be “the case” turns out not to be “the case”.  For instance, take the matter of listening and hearing.  When a group of people attend and hear the same presentation, not everybody hears the same message.  Well…in reality they did hear the same message, but how they processed and related to the words depends on various factors such as maturity, background, and/or previous experience.

For example, I grew up in a small fundamentalist church in Ohio.  The message I remember hearing week after week reminded me that I was a sinner who had better clean up my act or God was going to punish me.  The emphasis was on sin with the threat of Hell, so I had was encouraged to make frequent pilgrimages to the alter to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness. Needless to say, I became a regular guest.

But unfortunately for me, I had an active teenage mind filled with new and exciting teenage thoughts, so I was always waiting for God’s hammer to drop. I was fearful of this God, and in my mind I knew he didn’t like me or what I was doing or what I was thinking. It was also at this time when I began looking around the church and realized that the person collecting the offering, reading the scripture or directing the choir was the same person who, Monday through Saturday, was a frequent customer at any of our local bars and was often embroiled in local scandals. The concept of hypocrisy came to life right before my eyes.  So needless to say, when I left home and was college-bound, I had my fill of “church”.  I couldn’t wait to strip off that bondage and spread my wings to take flight.   I maintained that attitude for the next forty years!

I followed my passion, which was music, and it was good to me throughout my career.  But most of my adult life, however, was spent in a Barnum and Bailey world enjoying, not only the opportunities and thrills of music-making, but also the opportunities and thrills of partying.  And truth be told…I became a hardy partyer and couldn’t get enough of all that entailed!  But like every other story that follows this self-indulgent path, mine too came to a crashing end. But even at this point, I was one of the lucky ones.  I found my way to the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous.  And true to its purpose, AA became the beginning of a new life that I had never planned for, and certainly would have never thought possible. But it did become possible because 1. I learned to listen; 2. I learned to take direction and 3. I became willing to pursue the answer to “what if”.

So if I sum-up my life prior to the AA experience, it was a life that was self-centered, self-serving, and self-absorbed.  My quest was to fill my need for more, more, and more.  So how does one get from this place of darkness into the light?  Well…I believe it begins by realizing our own insufficiency. (This is also referred to as “humility”.)  Unfortunately, we are most susceptible to this “new concept” in a state of brokenness, which usually follows a traumatic experience such as the loss of a loved one; the loss of a job; a divorce, the consequences of an addiction, an arrest, exposure of our secret life, etc.  When we are out of our own options and have no other place to go, that famous prayer of surrender, “God…please help me!” opens up the door for a miracle.

The door opened because this time our plea is different from our previous prayers: “God, help me not to get caught tonight”; God, help me get…;  God, help me do…”  No, those prayers were all about you asking God to bring YOUR plan to fruition…help me, me, me!  This time your heart is different.  You are broken; you are humble.  This time your plea is professing YOUR need for God.  This truth is exemplified in James 4:10, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”  Jeremiah 29:13 reinforces that message: “You will seek me and you will find me if you seek me with all your heart.”  Our hope is in the truth of that message.  How do I know that?  I experienced that truth come alive in my life.

I spoke earlier about the possibility of “what if”.  For me the miracle of the AA program began by teaching me to listen and to re-think.  Remember, prior to this I was self-sufficient; totally sold on the gospel of Presgrave, even though there was no basis for that gospel other than it was what I believed to be true.  Well, so much for that gospel.  It took me deeper and deeper into darkness, and finally to my place of brokenness.

At this point there had to be a choice; more of the same, or “what if”?  “What if ” the 12 Step process is the answer?  “What if” what these people are saying is true…even though I didn’t like listening and re-thinking?  “What if” the lifting of the compulsion to drink from me was a miracle?  “What if” God, the one these AA people are talking about, really is loving and forgiving?  Well, I wanted that elusive something I saw in them, so I decided to take the plunge.  But I still wanted the answers to the “what ifs”, and it was that part of the journey that added a whole new dimension to my understanding of truth.

While I certainly thank AA for giving me the second chance at life and for opening my eyes and my ears to new ideas, I believe it was that groundwork that opened my heart to what followed.  About two years into my journey, I was asked by a friend in recovery if I had found God yet?  “Well, I believe I’m getting closer” was my reply.  He invited me to go with him to his church the next weekend.  He said he found something different there that kept him coming back, and he encouraged me to give it a try.

At this point I was amenable to giving church another try.  I had certainly become enlightened to my faulty past thinking, so I was willing to go with an open mind and heart.  As I sat and listened to the message that Sunday morning, it was like it was written specifically for me.  Instead of being a musty two-thousand year old history lesson that I felt had no relevance to my life, it was like the scriptures were written that very morning.  It was about how to apply the truth of these scriptures to everyday living.  There was no mention of sinning and Hell, but the emphasis was on God’s gift of grace, Jesus Christ, and what he did for me.  I heard that I’m a child of God and he DELIGHTS in me. (Wow…that got my attention!)  It was about carrying this message of truth and inviting hurting people to church.

When I left church that morning, I was cautiously optimistic.  I had the church bulletin with me that listed the Scriptures Ron used to build that day’s message, and I wanted to read them myself to be sure he had not embellished them in any way.  At home I had (someplace?) one of my Mother’s Bibles. It was the KJV and I really struggled with that presentation, so on the way out of church I stopped at the bookstore and purchased a Life Recovery Bible (NLT) so I could go home and check out the Scriptures.  I was satisfied with my findings, and was hooked.  I have been a willing student ever since that life changing experience with God’s Word.

The reason I am writing this is because I have come to believe that not everyone hears the message.  In many cases they just aren’t ready to hear it.  They are still following their own gospel and haven’t yet come to grips with their own insufficiency. I say this because I believe if I had stopped by church before the AA experience, I too may have missed the message because of my preconceived notions and my previous church baggage.  I believe people hear the message when they’re ready to hear the message.  In other words…it takes what it takes.

But the good news is…whenever we are ready to seek God with the intent of repenting (meaning ready to change direction; ready to change our ways), the God I know today is waiting with open arms, just like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32)  And more good news…God meets us wherever we are.  As Jeremiah 29:13, (stated above) tells us, “if we seek Him we will find Him.”  And the more we seek Him and develop a relationship with him, more and more truth of the scripture is revealed.  As Jesus stated in John 8:32, “If you follow my teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

I want to close by quoting Apostle Paul.  “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (Romans 12:2)  And finally, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  That is inspirational, no doubt, but when you understand that Paul was in prison at the time he wrote it, it takes on an even deeper level of inspiration.

Feel free to respond to this message, and please “like” and share this with other social media friends.

May God bless ya…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)