Christian Short Stories
Grace - Part 2
GRACE - PART 2
By Connie Lanyon-Roberts
“The Holy Spirit is telling me you were a man of great wealth and power once, but you lost it all, and you lost your family to sin.”
David’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe what the young woman was telling him. There was no way she could have known his past.
“Who are you? What do you want with me?” David asked incredulously.
Kathryn patted David’s hands. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
“Well I don’t want to talk to you. I just want to be left alone! If you don’t leave, I will!”
Kathryn smiled again but didn’t budge. David shot up to his feet and nearly toppled over. He sat back down beside his young companion.
“When was the last time you had something to eat?” Kathryn asked.
“I don’t remember. Who cares anyway.” David leaned back against the wall shaking his head in defeat.
“Listen,” Kathryn said. “I was on my way to church. Would you like to come with me?”
David turned slowly toward Kathryn in disbelief. “What is it with you? Do you get a kick out of tormenting me?”
“Of course not. I just thought......
“I haven’t been to a church since I was baptized as a baby. I’ve done okay without it….didn’t need it before, I don’t need it now. What good is your God to anyone anyway?”
“What happened that made you so angry with him?”
“You have got to be the nosiest person I have ever met,” David said irritably. “Look, if I tell you a little bit about myself, will you promise to go and leave me alone?”
Kathryn put her hands in her lap and waited for David to tell his story.
David looked hard at Kathryn and rolled his eyes before he began his story. “You’re right, I did have a lot of money once and I had a family, but the devil got into me I guess….”
“That’s exactly right,” Kathryn chimed in.
“What?”
“I’m agreeing with you,” Kathryn said.
“Agreeing with what?” David asked rather annoyed.
“With the devil part.”
“Are you going to keep interrupting me, or can I continue with my story?”
“Sorry,” Kathryn apologized. “Please, go ahead.”
Suddenly, tears began to well up in David’s eyes. “I miss them so much, you know? They would be so ashamed to see me like this, this filthy old drunk.” He shook his head as if to clear out the cobwebs. “Anyway, I did have a multi-million dollar company. I got to the point where I didn’t care who I hurt to get my company to the top. I stepped on a lot of people and they began to hate me, but I didn’t care. I was at the top of the world. And during that time I had several affairs and my wife couldn’t handle it, so she left me, took the kids and never looked back. Then my company went bust and I lost everything. I prayed. I prayed so I wouldn’t lose my company. I prayed for my family to come back. Yeah, I prayed and look where it got me.”
“So,” Kathryn asked. “In other words, you blame God for what happened to you?”
“Of course I blame him! I prayed for him to help me, and this is what I got in return!”
“What about the choices you made?”
“What about them?” David asked.
“God didn’t force you to be cruel and deceitful. You chose to do that. God didn’t force you to commit adultery. You did that all on your own.”
“All right!” David shot back. “So I was an idiot and made some really stupid mistakes! Yeah, and I chose to drink my sorrows away but I sure as hell didn’t choose to find myself homeless and living on the streets!”
“But everything you did led you to where you are today, didn’t it?” Kathryn asked softly.
“I’m really beginning to dislike you,” David said.
“I don’t believe that. I think it’s just hard for you to hear the truth.”
“I’ve been living in this filth for the last seven years! What would you know about it? Nothing! Everyday I’ve wanted to end it!”
Kathryn gently touched David’s arm. “But something has always stopped you, hasn’t it? Today it was me and those boys. Do you think by killing yourself it’ll solve all your problems?”
David couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down his face. “YES! It’ll stop the pain! I’m tired of hurting! And I want out….I want to finally be at peace!”
“Jesus can give you the peace you’re looking for,” Kathryn said softly.
David began to sob loudly. “What are you doing to me?”
“It’s not me; it’s the Holy Spirit. He wants you to know how much Jesus loves you. Jesus can take the pain away, if you ask Him. It says in the Bible, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
David became agitated. “How can you say that? Won’t your Jesus judge me and condemn me for what I’ve done! How could He ever love and save someone like me? How can he forgive all the horrible things I’ve done in my life? I'm no good! How can he love a piece of trash like me?”
“Why did you give up the bottle of whiskey?” Kathryn asked.
“What?”
Kathryn repeated the question. “Why did you give up the bottle of whiskey?”
“Because.....because they were going to hurt you,” David answered.
"You didn't have to do that did you? You could have let them hurt me, gotten away with your bottle, but you thought of my safety and protected me. See? There is goodness inside you. All of us have sinned and feel unworthy, but by God’s grace everyone who believes in Jesus is freed from all guilt and declared right with God,” Kathryn replied.
“What you’re saying’s just all mumbo-jumbo. It’s too easy. It’s just too easy.”
Kathryn chuckled. “I know. Isn’t it wonderful? Jesus loves us and if we ask for His forgiveness, then we’ll become blameless in the eyes of God. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, pain and suffering no longer have to be a part of our lives.
“Are you telling me that if I ask your Jesus into my heart, my life will change?” David asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“You expect me to believe that just because I do that everything’s going to be perfect? You’re dreaming girl,” David said.
Kathryn did not back down. “God is the God of second chances. He restores lives and situations.”
“So you’re saying that if I ask Jesus into my heart, I’ll get my family back? I don’t want to live if I can’t have my family.” David said as tears streamed down his face.
“When you change your circumstances begin to change. I know that God is also a God of restoration. I believe if you get right with God, He will restore your family. But you must do your part.
David smiled for the first time in years. “What do I have to do?
“Just say what we call the sinner’s prayer.”
“That’s it?” David asked.
“That’s it,” Kathryn said.
David stood and began to pace. “But what if I fail and I sin again?”
“Look, we’re all imperfect and we all sin, but if you’re truly sorry and if you ask God to forgive you, He will.”
David paced again for several minutes longer. He then stopped suddenly and sat beside Kathryn. “Okay, I’m ready to change my life. What do I have to say?”
“Just repeat after me.” Kathryn said. “Dear God, I know I have sinned and done wrong. I am willing to turn away from those sins and do whatever you ask me to do. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart. Please forgive me of my sins. I receive you as my Lord and Savior right now. Amen.”
David put his hand out to shake Kathryn’s hand. “By the way, my name’s David.”
“Nice to meet you, David. Welcome to God’s family.”
THE END
(© 2009 Connie Lanyon-Roberts - Material cannot be duplicated without permission.)
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