God as Father

I heard a truly amazing story from a friend the other day that I just have to share with all of you.  Everything you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect those involved.  The only name that hasn’t changed is the name of the Lord because even if I tried to change it, it wouldn’t matter you would still know it was Him J

The story goes like this:

There was once a seemingly perfect family that lived not to far from where you sit right now, well call them the Joseph’s.  From almost any angle this family looked like a model family.  The parents were quite well off, loved Jesus and had many friends.  The kids were all college graduates; one was married another engaged and another studying to become a fire fighter.  Life was easy for this family…

Then one day it all changed.  25+ years of apparent bliss dissolved into a world of lies, deceit and pain in a split second.

You see it turns out the Dad in this perfect family (we’ll call him Steve) had been having affairs for years.  His wife knew, but no one else in the whole world did.  This man was a leader of a large ministry, a motivational speaker, a very successful businessman and a hero to his children.  And one day after years of keeping his secrets the Mother (well call her Ann) realized he was slipping back into habits and decided she couldn’t take it anymore.  She called her oldest son (my friend, well call him Thomas) and told him everything.  His world spiraled out of control, as did his brother and sister’s.  They had been completely deceived; everything they thought they knew their whole lives had been a façade.  Their parent’s marriage was nothing more than a pain-ridden front intended to hide the truth from everyone around them in hopes that they wouldn’t have to open up their world of hurt and shame. 

On top of that there was the money.  It seemed that somewhere amidst the process of keeping the adultery secret the Joseph’s had lost the ability to face reality all together.  They had hidden the dissolve of their fortune by racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, again completely unknown to anyone including their children.  They had appearances and an image to protect after all.

Soon after Ann told her children the truth Steve left.  He ran away and Thomas told him not to come home.  Ann collapsed, finally allowing herself to feel the pain she had kept hidden for three decades.  For 3 months Thomas had to carry his mother to bed every night because she was so depressed and sick.  She refused to eat and could only sleep when she took pills.

Meanwhile Thomas tried to speak with his Dad but soon realized that his Dad had a disorder.  He was disconnected from reality, addicted to sex and so dependent upon the praise of people that he refused to step down from his job as a motivational speaker and financial advisor to thousands of people.

The next year and a half was marked by chaos.   Visits with lawyers, therapy sessions and tears became a daily occurrence.  Not only was Steve struggling with addiction but it was soon clear that Ann was an addict too.  Only her addiction was Steve.  He was the only man she had ever been with, they were 16 when they started dating and she knew nothing of a life without him.  Despite all the pain he had caused her she longed to have him back.  She stalked him obsessively; She would hire Private Investigators to follow him, hack his phone and bank statements.  She would spend countless hours pouring through his emails and Facebook account just tearing scabs off any wound that tried to heal…

Thomas and his siblings were at a total loss, they had nothing left to give.  They longed for parents but found only selfish children incapable of truth.  Thomas began to doubt the Lord’s faithfulness.  After all, everything he knew about the Lord he had learned from his Father.  If everything else had been a lie, then this God must be a lie too.   God had never seemed less present for Thomas and his family than in that moment.  But the reality was he had never been more present…

Very soon the depression, sleep deprivation and malnutrition began to take its toll on Ann.  After much prodding Thomas and his siblings convinced her to see a doctor.  The doctor told them that her heart was functioning at 30% its normal capacity and if she didn’t have surgery soon her heart might not be strong enough to pump blood out to her body.  She was literally dying of a broken heart. 

The problem was heart surgery was expensive.  The Joseph’s could never afford the surgery.  At this point they were hiding cash in their freezer because the creditors would confiscate any money deposited into the bank.  Their phones rang night and day with credit card companies trying to claim the money they were owed.   

This was the moment God had been working towards for two years.  Ann, Thomas his brother and sister had no answer.  Their whole life they’d had all the answers.  They had been able to rely on themselves for everything and now they could do nothing.  Here at this brokenness God finally had their attention and was ready to show them who He Is.

The Joseph’s spent the next month in prayer like they never had before.  Thomas told me he remembers very vividly a night at Rock Harbor where his Mom stumbled sobbing to the front for prayer in the middle of worship something she had been adamantly opposed to doing his whole life (which makes sense when you consider she feared the people praying were just like here husband).  In the midst of total depravity God was driving their whole family to their knees to cry out to Jesus because they had nothing left to cling to.

A few weeks later Thomas got a call from his younger brother Kyle.  Kyle was excited and told Thomas that he and his sister were going to need to come to LA for an interview the next week.  He said he couldn’t say what it was for but just that they needed to come.  Two weeks later Thomas, Kyle and their sister Kara were sitting in a makeshift office in the basement of a bank building in LA.  Kyle, an aspiring actor, had answered an ad for families with an interesting story to come and tryout for new game show and the Joseph’s had made the final round of auditions.  

The premise of the show was that the contestants would be playing to win money for someone they felt deserved it, hence the name of the show “You Deserve It”.  The catch was that the person you were playing for was not allowed to know any of this was happening.  So after a few on camera interviews, a few practice rounds of the game and a trivia test the Joseph’s headed home and waited to hear if they made it… 

Yesterday Ann had her heart surgery with the money the Joseph’s won on You Deserve It. 

Thomas would tell you that while the surgery may have fixed what was wrong with her heart the Lord had restored what was in it way before that day.  It took more pain and brokenness than one would ever hope to experience but today Thomas thanks the Lord for every moment of the journey because their family now stands on the other side with a faith in Jesus that is not contingent upon circumstance, success, image or their ability to provide for themselves. 

God’s provision is mighty, He is present always, there’s nowhere you can be that He is not with you.  Pray that He uses WHATEVER circumstance necessary to draw you closer to Him.  Pray that He breaks down your self-reliance and builds faith in His provision.  Pray that He will make you weak for the purpose of revealing His strength.   Pray that you may know Him as your Father.

Sorry that got a little long but its something I just had to share.  If you’re interested the Joseph’s episode of You Deserve It will air Monday December 26^th on ABC.  Check it out.  I gotta go now though the Dr. is coming back into the room to check on my Mom.

Love you guys,

Taylor