A Second Chance

 

              One day a small town was flooded and a man living by himself was stuck on the roof of his home. Now, I am sure you have heard this story before. The man prays to God to save him. Suddenly, a helicopter comes around to save him, and he waves them off while screaming, “God is going to save me”. Then comes a boat, and then even an unmanned canoe, yet the man still was waiting for God to save him. That man eventually had drowned. The man is standing face to face with God and says, “What gives Lord? I asked for you to save me.” God replied, “Did I not send you a helicopter, rescue boat, and an unmanned canoe?” We see that God had sent the man three opportunities to be saved, and he never saw the value in what was sent. God sent Jonah to Ninevah. Except in this example, the warning was delayed, but still delivered. The Bible is covered in second chances, with the greatest second chance of all provided at the point of Calvary where Jesus died so we can have life after death. We must see the signs that he gives us. This is why my eyes are wide open.

 

                Too many times, my aunt warned me that congestive heart failure runs in my family. Now this is the last thing I wanted to hear, seeing that I was young at the time and had purpose in my life. I felt if I have purpose that God has my back.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body".

Just because you have purpose, does not mean that you can treat your body any sort of way or neglect the physical and holistic maintenance that we must do to keep our bodies healthy to serve the purpose God has for us. Here is an example. In the Army, I had to maintain my equipment for battle. This meant that I was constantly making sure that all my gear was in good condition and ready in case we were ever called into battle. The most important piece of equipment was my M-16a2 assault rifle. If you fire your weapon, when you have a chance, you clean your weapon. You oil the inner parts of your weapon. This was to keep your weapon from having an ammunition jam. The last thing you want is your weapon to jam on you when the bullets are flying. The same goes for your body. You must keep everything maintained to live longer. Especially if you are in the Army of the Lord. Just because God can do all things, does not mean that you should stop doing all things to keep yourself maintained.  

             

My eyes are wide open. For too long I have let my health slip. There was one time that I felt a sharp pain in my chest when I was 38 years old. I sprang into action after I made a selfish little covenant with God. It was October when it happened. I asked God, “If you will allow me to eat the way I want to through the holidays, I will lose weight at the start of the new year.” Now this was foolish for me to think that God would keep me and let me be a glutton and allow me time until I was ready to lose weight. It was just all God’s grace that kept me until the following January. However, I did uphold the bargain. I dropped from 385 pounds to 245 pounds in the matter of seven months. This was with extreme dieting and exercise. However, I did it. Over time I slacked off and slowly gained the weight back, and then some. It was Pastor Stephen Thomas Martin from Vintage Church in Harker Heights, TX that pointed out that my weight issues maybe more mentally crippling then just being physically lazy. During the pandemic, I came to the realization that all the emotional pain I dealt with for years was comforted by eating. If I was stressed, I ate. If I was sad, I would eat. Something great has happened, let’s eat. After the loss of my daughter, I knew I was going to gain weight, because I had no other way to deal with my grief. I went from 390 pounds to 440 pounds when my eyes became wide open to the reality that I am killing myself.

 

                Since the passing of my daughter, I honored a promise to her that I would go to college. This was something that she wanted to finish, and I had always regretted not trying. This was because in 1974, the doctors predetermined my life by saying I would be mentally challenged, dead before I turn 21, or in and out of prison my whole life. This is what they told the parents of heroine babies back in the 70’s. I have been to jail twice in my life for unpaid parking tickets. Barely graduated high school. Served in uniform twice. Does this sound like the life of a hardened criminal? At this point in my life, I am still in my freshman year of theology school, but I am sitting pretty with a 3.93 grade point average, and I made the Presidents List. So much for the doctor’s predetermination of me. However, the addiction was still there. Because of how I came into this world, I refused to take any narcotic that was prescribed to me. I always opted for the lesser because I am afraid as to the door it can open, even though I had never consciously experienced the heroine addiction as a baby, I know it is there. My parents suffered from drug and alcohol addiction. My addiction that I have come to realize, it is food. The devil does not play fair. My father died from addiction. My mother conquered addiction and lived a good life. Me on the other hand, I can’t say “Hey everyone, I have been food free for 2 years.” You just can’t quit food. This is my dilemma.

                Have a told you yet? My eyes are wide open. The signs are there. I am almost 50 years old. At my heaviest, I was 440 pounds. I have lost some weight since I started dieting after thinking I was having a heart attack. Come to find out it was pneumonia. Yet, I am not playing around with my health. Even though the doctors said it was something else, I am scared out of my mind as I am writing this. Any little tightness or little discomfort anywhere in my chest has me so paranoid. Right now, paranoia is a good thing. It has me motivated to get the weigh off, eat right, and most of all, live. All I am praying for right now, is that God sees my efforts and keeps me regarding my health until I get this weight down and my blood pressure in order. I believe I have a lot more to do for God and my wife. I made a covenant with God. I pray that it has been honored. I asked that If I take better care of myself, and take steps to do so, that he will allow me to make it to 90. I want to be there for my wife in our golden years. I want to finish college, and I am even aspiring to go all the way to my doctorate. Most of all, after I get my degree, I want to reach as many people as I can with the Gospel of Jesus and help as many as I can before it is all said and done. I am not ready to go. I have work to do. I am not playing around anymore. The signs have been seen. The warnings have been heard. This is my second chance, and I am not toying around with it. I will not squander this chance. All I ask is that God keeps me and allows me to overcome this giant called overeating and gluttony. I am facing my giant right now. However, I know that God has my back regardless. This giant is tall, but my God is taller. There is something powerful about a man that has God on his side, with a slingshot and a rock in his hand. This is my second chance. It is time to take my shot.