I was listening to an interview not so long ago....and it was from a chappie called Andrew, who was brought up jewish, but as he grew up, he could not understand “why” he did what he did, at the right age, to do his Jewish bar mizvah...

So He decided he was not going to do this anymore, he actually threw away all the gifts he was given,

and said to himself..., “I am lying, I don’t believe all this....so, that’s it, I’m done with that religious stuff....

As time progressed he sunk into depression.

He was stubborn enough not to want to reach out to God, because he thought that would be a crutch....How would he know that he wasn’t just reaching out to God, in/because of, his depression.

But God reached out to him.

He reached a point where he was actually suicidal. He had a beautiful wife whom he adored and a beautiful daughter Whom he loved, and he was sitting in his room, thinking that they would be better off without him.


He was, at that stage, thinking how he was going to climb up to the top of a building and throwing himself off the roof,

but at the same time he was thinking all this, he was listening to a baseball game on a radio station, He continues:

"the N.Y mets…

and they had a player whom I loved, Garry Carter, he was the catcher, and he was always....

well he was a "loudmouthed Christian" always talking about Jesus Christ....” They'd ask him,

How did you hit that home run,,,?He'd say, "Oh well Jesus blessed me....”

and I used to think....”Yuk.....Yuk.....I hate listening to this....it was like a worm going down the back of my shirt,

why couldn’t he just say I took a good swing at the bat...”

So, at the end of this game he drove out the winning run by beating out a grounder by first base, and the thing is

if you know anything about catchers...… they have terrible knees, …..

and they are incredibly slow.....

and the interviewer came up to Carter and said,

“ How did you manage to beat out that grounder to first base when your knees are so bad?”

So, there I was.....

contemplating suicide...…

and I was thinking to myself, “You know, I do not know how to go on living.... with this pain, with this misery....."

and Carter was asked this question, how he beat out this grounder with such bad knees and instead of saying

“Jesus...Jesus...” (which I would not have listened to at all...)

he said, “Sometimes you just have to play in pain!”

And I thought...”Oh...Oh I can do that...I’m a tough guy....I can play in pain....”

And it changed my entire world view.


It was only later, after I did become a Christian, that I looked back and I thought...”

WOW....not only was that God speaking to me, through Garry Carter, but.....

God set His name aside, because God knew I would not have listened, if Carter had said anything about Jesus.....

God set Himself aside..... to reach out to me....”

and when you think "that is the KING of the universe"...He created everything....

putting Himself aside to reach out to me who is not the king of anything....

I always thought That was a magnificent act...

of humility and grace and mercy! And, I’m really, really grateful for it,

and if I could go back in time to that kid who contemplated suicide, I would go to him and slap him, for it’s such a foolish thing to throw away your life.

see here

Blessings
Yaddy