Prayer

I left home at seventeen years old because I was hardheaded and wanted to live apart from God – almost nothing was off-limits to me. I even got sexually involved with a coworker, “Rachel,” who was quite a bit older than me – and married. While a part of me would like to sugarcoat the truth, the fact of the matter was that I became an adulterer. And Rachel’s husband “Mitch” didn’t appreciate that fact. So one afternoon Mitch decided to teach me a lesson. Keep in mind, I had never seen the man before and wouldn’t have recognized him if he stood in front of me doing jumping jacks.

While I was at work, Mitch flattened one of the tires on my car. After work, as I approached my car, I thought I had just run over a nail or something, no big deal. I didn’t know that Mitch was setting me up. While I was changing my tire, Mitch approached with a crowbar and an expression that could only mean he meant to do me bodily harm. At first, I thought this was a random act of violence. Mitch never said why he was assaulting me. I ran as fast as possible to the nearest place of business and shouted, “I’m being attacked! This crazy man is trying to kill me!!” 

The police arrived, picked me up, and escorted me back to my car. When I arrived, there were flashing lights and a full-blown crime scene with the yellow tape. I noticed my car now had not only a flat tire but a crowbar through the windshield. I also saw the guy who attacked me sitting in the backseat of a police cruiser in handcuffs – and I saw Rachel standing by the car. Suddenly it all made sense. As the police cars pulled away, one after the other, I was left sitting alone on the curb, dumbfounded by the mess I was in. I realized I had no one to blame for my situation but myself. If I had been living differently and doing what I knew to be right, living in the way I had been taught to live by my godly parents, I would not have created such a mess of both my and other people’s lives.

That’s when I cried out to God.

I was drowning in a sea of sin and regret. You might say I had a “Jonah moment.” I knew Jonah had run from God. And I knew that even though Jonah was in the belly of a great fish in the bottom of the ocean, God heard his prayer when he repented and asked for forgiveness. Sitting on that curb, I turned to God. I asked for His forgiveness, and then I went home where I belonged.

Taken from The Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible

  NUM.21.7