If you have read or should I say, “I suggest you read” the Bible, Genesis 37. It’s a story of betrayal, jealousy, and turning a bad situation into something much bigger than anyone could ever imagined. In Genesis 50:20 it says, ”
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” We all have a purpose in life and over the last several years, I was put into a situation no one wants but God had other plans. I’m not going to discuss those circumstances (for now), so please don’t ask.
I was raised in a home believing in God and became saved and baptized as a teenager. My walk with God has been not as consistent as I’d liked, but I never completely left God nor forgot about him. My faith has always been with him and leaving all things to him, “that battle is his and not mine”. In your life you meet many people, some for a short time and some for a lifetime. It’s those you meet for a short time that sometimes leave the most lasting impressions.
About a year ago, I got to learn first hand that the drug epidemic is beyond out of control. I’ve never been exposed to illegal drugs and never cared to. You’re lucky if I even take a pain killer when prescribed by the doctor. Truth! I once had a severe kidney stone, prescribed vicodin. I took 1/2 a pill and hated it ,ended up with another kidney stone shortly after and the doctor tried to give me another prescription and when I said I still had the original one I think he almost fainted. So yeah, I’m not a pill popper. Any way, back to my story…when you meet people that are addicted to drugs of varying choices it’s I believe human nature to look down at them. You scoff at them, make assumptions and whisper under your breath whatever vile things comes to mind. Instead, I suggest that you take some time and actually sit down with these PEOPLE and ask them about their story. We all have a story, most will tell you theirs if you just ask and treat them like a human being. The majority of the folks that I talked told me they did not start taking drugs because one day they woke up and thought, “this is a good idea”. The majority of people were people like you and I that one day, during a normal course of their life ended a day with a tragic event like a car accident, sports injury, etc. The stories all started different, but towards the middle started to sound the same. “I was cheerleader, hurt my shoulder and was going to the doctor for medication. The therapy wasn’t working, I told people it wasn’t working but instead of helping me the doctor pushed me off and said there was nothing else they could do”. So here we have folks taking most of the time muscle relaxers, a pain killer of some sort, then suddenly even still in pain forced to end their medical care for various reasons. This is where the situation unfortunately starts. They start asking family or friends for medication, then they may unfortunately start to “sneak” a pill or two from somewhere they are visiting and “happen” to notice the bottle in the bathroom. The needs grows and they can’t keep up with the demand so then they may start buying pot. Pot is cheap and easy enough to get they say, but then they run into that one person. The corner dealer saying, “hey try a bump of this and if you like it I can give you more”. I don’t know for sure and only what I hear on tv etc. but they say once you try herione you’re instantly addicted. Crazy!!!
Let me stop for second to say that I’m not trying to speak about something I know a lot about first hand just because I had some conversations with a few people. I can never truly know the depths this story could have unless I experienced it myself. That my friend, is NOT a road I want to travel. Any assumed knowledge I’ve stated above came from those conversations.
During this time, I had the chance to not only listen to their stories but I had the opportunity to also tell them mine. They saw how every opportunity I got, I went to church or Bible study. I read my Bible on a regular if not daily basis and prayed. People started coming to me to ask questions about the Bible, about a story or sermon that was given at church that day. I had one person ask me, “if God still loved them because they were gay”. What started as a small group of people soon turned into a bigger group of folks that asked me everyday to sit and pray with them. This was always an area in my faith I never felt comfortable with, and I never knew why. I guess I was always critical of myself that I wasn’t saying the right thing or that I sounded dumb if I prayed out loud. God likes to push us like that, past our comfort zone. I could see and feel that I was making a difference in these folks lives. It wasn’t until the first one stood up and came forward at a church to give their life to God.
Can you imagine the feeling? I was so excited and it was rewarding in so many ways. I felt like a mother with her kids receiving a reward. I couldn’t wait to call my Mom to tell her and tell her to tell Pastor Kevin our preacher. It then happened an additional 5 times and it was then I knew that, “what was intended to harm me, God turned into good and to save the lives of others”. Holy cow, just little ole me doing this for God.
Also, during this time God was putting it on my heart that I need to start a women’s ministry. To do Bible study on all the women from the Bible and how they played an important role in Christianity. One of the reasons, I feel he put this on my heart was because a lot of these people have not only done drugs but the things they did to get them they felt unworthy. They really feel that God would never ever forgive them for things that they did. I started to show them how some of the women in the Bible directly related and who Jesus descended didn’t come from the best beginnings. I also love genealogy. So I think this was God’s way of saying, you can research my heritage and use for showing others that just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean that he stops loving us.
Will you follow me on my blog while I start my first Bible study? Will you share it with a friend or someone you know who might need to hear God’s message? Let’s get started asap!!!!
The Carpenter’s Daughter 