The Battle Goes On

I got to spend time last night over at Catalyst Recovery. Each meeting I get to attend (no matter where it takes place) is like a family reunion. I see faces (even though sometimes I don't remember the names) of people who are daily fighting the battle to keep their sobriety. I see smiles where only shadows use to exist. I see eyes that are clear and clean. Eyes that sparkle letting me know that there is life behind them. 

I also see the newcomers who walk around in a kind of daze to all this recovery stuff. I'm just glad they came to a meeting. The sole reason any of us show up to help with food, worship, be a reader of the steps, or on a ministry team, is that on this night there is someone who may be touched by God and delivered out the madness that we call addiction.

At Seth's meeting, the core leadership always gathers in a back room to pray. This time was different. Seth had gotten a call to inform him of a man who use to attend Catalyst meetings. He had been found dead.....OD'ed.....needle still in his arm.  Of course when you get news like this, and you know the individual who had died, you begin to question yourself...."God! Is there something I missed? Could I have done things differently so that this individual would still be with us?" 

A death like this always brings home the reality that this truly is a life and death battle going on. I wish I could understand why some who come to meetings hear the Word of God....and receive it. Such a reception leads to salvation and a new beginning. Others hear the Word of God....and reject it. Such a reception as this only leads to more darkness which leads down a slippery slope to death.

As I stood there in that room with Seth and his leaders, you could sense a resolve rising up in each person. A resolve to not allow the message get lost in any way, shape, form or fashion. To make sure that we will not give up in sharing the truth of who Jesus is..........THE WAY.....THE TRUTH....AND THE LIFE!

So please pray for the family of this young man who died.
Pray that good will come from his death.
Let us not grow weary in the fight....