Addiction and Abuse to Second Chances

There was one employee at my work. He was missing a lot of work and he was struggling and he came to me and said, I struggle with alcohol and I don't know how to pick this habit and I said, you know what? God is there. He wants to help you through that. And so I just started giving him the hope of the Lord and when you never back down, don't back down from the enemy, I said, you can do it. God's empowered you. He's in you. Welcome to the Ignite with Barry McGuire podcast. We're Barry's book and passion for spreading God's love are guaranteed to ignite your life. Now listen in and prepare to have your life ignited. Carmen, you have an interesting story because you were brought up in the traditional churchy family. You have all this joy, the joy of the Lord but you came from kind of a dark background. I did and I just want to say that the Lord, he sent me free from drugs and alcohol. I was a user for 10 years and in all of that, I was just took my kids along for that right and didn't care about anyone or anything. And your husband as well. My husband also, I mean, he was just as bad if not worse and an abuser in all of that. You know, and so he brought us out of a dark place for 15 years. We were in that. You would think that there was no way out of the life that you had. None at all. I was without hope and it was really dark. But God. But God did his wonderful, wonderful call where he saved us and he took us out of a pit that we couldn't get out of. But his grace and his mercy found us where we were at. It's so exciting. You know, it's there for everyone. You know, all we have to do is trust him in that. I can't say that I'm like somebody that knows everything, but I do know what he's done for me. I do know what he brought me out of and I do know there's hope for others. There's not just for me, but like every day people, every day people at the store, every day people at your work, and even in your family, there's hope for them. Everyone's hurting today. Yes, everybody's hurting. And you could ignore it being focused on your own world, which most of us do. Or you have your intent up and realize they need help. The opportunity is there everywhere you're up. People are hurting. Had no need to be cautious of the Lord. And there was there was there was one employee at my work. He was missing a lot of work and he was struggling and he came to me and says, I struggle with alcohol. And I don't know how to kick this habit. And I said, you know what? God is there. He wants to help you through that. And so I just started giving him the hope of the Lord. And I'm going to tell you eventually, you know, he was from gang related. And so I have a background in that also because that's what I used to do also in my addictions. And so anyways, I told him, look, you know how you're in the world and you never back down from a fight as a gangster because he was, he was a backsliding Christian. I go, just the same way. I said, when you never back down, don't back down from the enemy. I said, you can do it. God's empowered you. He's in you. He's giving you that already. And so, you know, at the end of the day, I'm just going to tell you, I spoke to him like at least twice per week and just poured into this, this young man. I ended up having to let him go. And I was sad to do that, but you know, I still have to maintain like my responsibilities. So I'm going to tell you five months later, he, he actually sent me a text and told me that he had went to teen challenge. And I'm going to tell you because you have impacted my life and you have given me hope when I was down. And I just wanted to tell you that all those words didn't go in vain. And it wasn't me. It was just my obedience and sharing with God has done for me and sharing it and pouring it into his life. And so that's just like his, that's God. We don't know what we're when we say God gets the increase, you know. And so it's just like every day life living, you know, just being compassionate and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And you know what? Let me tell you. He ended up because he sent me the text. I felt I really, I didn't stop praying, but every time the Lord placed him on my heart, I would just pray for him. But I ended up bringing him back. And giving him a chance because we people deserve second chances. And it was, it was because I felt like the Lord said, just give him a second chance. And it's, he's that good because I would want a second chance. I would want my sons and daughters to have a second chance, you know. Yeah, he God gives us second chances and thirds and firsts and fifths. I need them all. I love your joy. I wish we had all day we hang out together. Thank you for sharing that. It's been incredible story. Your heart, your passion, your love for God. If you enjoyed today's episode, let us know and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review to help us reach more listeners. Remember, sharing your faith, ignites your faith. See you next time on the Ignite with Barry McGuire Podcast.