“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
It Was a Mad, Sad World
A man with a face much older than his years stared blankly at the stacks of boxes piled around him. He felt uncomfortable in his skin—but too defeated to do anything about it.
This was his house, but it was about to become someone else’s. He, his wife, and three kids would soon be moving out because he had no job and they could no longer afford to live in it. But the thought came into his mind, thick and blurry, like a windshield on a dark, stormy night.
The phone rang. He blinked. Everything around him seemed far away, even though it was all right in front of him. Then suddenly, there was his wife’s face, and it looked scared and shocked and panicked. The sale of the house had been canceled.
Ducks Not in Order
Not too long before this, Brad was successful and happy. He was a consummate planner. His entire life, in fact, was and always had been neatly in order. Then he lost his job—and everything else started falling apart.
But it was also the time in which Brad, with your help, found his true faith.
Every day that passed without work, a cold, clammy fear crept in, like a boat slowly filling with water. No job, but more bills, more pressure, more failure. They were going to have to sell their home.
He began to drink more and chew tobacco more. He began to sleep less. Sometimes, his heart would seize up, his breath would come in short gasps, and his body would jolt back and forth, like a rag doll being shaken. Finally, he and his wife, not knowing what else to do, admitted him into a mental institution. There, heavily medicated, Brad went from bad to worse. He could not think, let alone work. He wanted to die. When he left the institution, it was to a home that was stripped bare and ready for its new owner.
When that fated phone call came and the sale was canceled, Brad, as soulless as the house itself, gave himself up for lost.
Recovery and Revival
But help finally came in the form of his wife’s mother, who suggested that Brad enroll in a special recovery program for those with depression and anxiety. Brad’s in-laws were Sabbathkeepers, and the doctor who directed the program was also a Sabbathkeeper—and the program itself was closely tied to their faith.
Brad knew about his in-laws’ faith; he especially remembered their conversations about the Saturday Sabbath. But Brad had grown up as a Pentecostal and had even gone to school to be a youth minister. The Sabbath, he knew, was Sunday—and besides, his wife had left her parents’ faith years ago. But he attended the program anyway, flying all the way to the West Coast.
Upon its completion, Brad had stopped drinking and chewing tobacco and had weaned off the medications. He came home with not only a newfound mental acuity but also a new diet, exercise regimen, and a set of Amazing Facts Bible lessons. He looked like a different person, alive, bright. Things were in focus now; his thoughts were sharp, vibrant, purposeful.
“We finally felt that God’s presence and truth were being revealed to us and that He was guiding us.”
One evening, he and his wife decided to start going through the Bible studies he had received together with their children. “This was when our life began to rapidly improve,” Brad recalls. “We finally felt that God’s presence and truth were being revealed to us and that He was guiding us through our walk.” Even his wife was amazed, especially at the truth of the biblical Sabbath. “When we realized how important this [day of rest] was,” Brad remembers, “I felt my depression and anxiety diminish over the next weeks and months.” Not only that, but several studies later, Brad’s cravings for alcohol and tobacco had vanished.
The family completed the studies and wanted more, downloading the Amazing Facts app as well as listening to Pastor Doug’s sermons on YouTube. Every member of Brad’s family, including himself, was eventually baptized into a Sabbath-keeping church. Brad also found a new job, one that he loves and at which he loves to witness about the Bible’s beautiful truths. With your help, Brad now understands that God’s plan for his life is the only one he wants to follow.
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