He was a guy from the Lansing area I would have never run across.
There was something that was off about him but I could never figure out what
was wrong with him. He was a nice guy, had a great personality, he cracked me
up and seemed to be loved by his visitors. I found out this guy got wrapped
into stuff he shouldn’t have been in. Now he was living in a tent behind a
store in the Michigan winter.
This is what put him in the hospital. He didn’t notice it at
the time but from living out of a tent in the middle of the winter he ended up
with some form of frostbite and lost a couple of his toes. Now he sat here in
the hospital waiting on what they were going to do. The doctor came in and told
him all his toes would be removed from his foot they would be replace with
synthetic (I vaguely remember). They were doing other things to help with the
infection and improve that.
This guy had a great attitude and desire for life, with his
remaining toes on his right foot he would often say, “Hey look, the peace
symbol!” He cracked me up. Soon it wasn’t as funny.
He didn’t have insurance and would be sent away. What was
going to be a couple of days of procedures and recovery was changed to some antibiotics
and a boot out the door. For the life of me I could figure out why this guy
couldn’t get insurance at all. It ends up he was heavily into drugs and even
his visitors were family that tried to help him out from time to time but he
never improved. The help he needed wasn’t from medical hospital but from a
rehab place.
This guy’s life was wrecked because of drugs and his ability
not to get help. What’s different between us and him? Not much. We are in the
same boat, we are sinners and full of mistakes. Yet God gives us another
chance, Romans 3:23-24…
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and
are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus.”
This guy fell short of the glory of God and so do we. We are
not mistakes but we make a ton of mistakes. God values each and every life and
values your life so much. God loves you and you are free because Jesus gave us
grace. Through all our sins Jesus washed them all away. Laying in the hospital
bed next to my roommate, we came from different paths, had different struggles
and yet we were in the hospital both seeking help.
We all need help from time to time. Whether it’s our marriages,
our family, our friends, a physical problem or a bad habit like drugs or
alcohol, help can be there for us. Don’t be afraid to seek help with issues
going on in your life. If you had a broken leg, you go to a doctor, if something
was wrong with your head mentality, you would go to a doctor too.
We serve a God that is loving and just. He wants us to be
able to conquer those issues going on in our lives. I think about my former roommate
from time to time and pray that he was able to get the help needed and kick the
bad habit. God is love and is forgiving to those who seek forgiveness. If you
need help, please seek someone to help you.
Have a great day.
