Pass It On | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Pass It On | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tammy McConnell
04/11/06
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

As I set the receiver back onto its cradle, I breathed a thankful prayer heavenward. It had been a busy afternoon. Several phone calls, still unanswered questions; but now there seemed to be a glimmer of hope…finally. The broken man on the other end (1300 miles away) seemed only a shell of his former self; and it was agonizing for me to hear his pain. “I know now that I need help … and I know YOU can help me. What should I do?” he sputtered between sobs. It’s been a year since I’ve laid eyes on my little brother (who towers about a foot above me). I’ve been praying for a long time…even before the last time I saw him.

I was there … 15 or so years ago. That was me. For many of those years I begged God to tell me why I must go through such trials and pain. Why couldn’t He just straight out deliver me from my addictions before they caused so much grief for all my friends and family? Why couldn’t he just have allowed me to retain custody of my daughter while I “recovered”? Why did He allow me to long to die? He knew everything would be okay in the end, didn’t He? If He really loved me, He would have spared me all that heartache!

A few years ago, he called me from a hotel room (my brother). His girlfriend was in the hospital. He was afraid he had put her there and the police wouldn’t let him near her. “What made YOU change? What do I need to do?” I see now that he wasn’t quite ready to commit to recovery or admit that he needed help. It was a rhetorical inquisition. “I don’t remember how much I drank” he’d said.

The fulfillment of God’s purpose … of His will … is incomprehensible to us, especially when we’re right in the middle of a crisis. Hindsight doesn’t kick in until after the pain has subsided and discernment has taken root. The seed of a wrong choice quickly grows into the bitter stranglehold of addiction. It’s fast and terrifying to the victim; unwilling to release its strong grip. Welts of recollections continue to surface long after the thick stalk of compulsion has been chopped down. That’s why complete recovery necessitates “after care” and “transitional” programs. Without them, the undergrowth twines back up the trellis of the human soul to flourish…even stronger than before.

My “experiences” serve not only as a reminder to be continually grateful for the life I have now; but as a knowledge base to draw from when counseling others. “Who me? You want ME to counsel my brother? Are you kidding?”

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. Ecl. 3:1-10

The fulfillment of His will IS our purpose. We make wrong choices. We pay the consequences. We grieve. We heal. We move on. We fulfill and are fulfilled. Continuously circling, our purpose moves on to help others heal.

Pass it on.

Reference Ec. 3:1-10 NKJV

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.