Resurrection Story – New Life for Paul

Resurrection means life from the dead. Jesus was resurrected from the dead and he continues to bring new life to people every day. This is an email I received from a friend, used with his permission, that describes his resurrection and new life! I hope you are encouraged!

Photo Credit: Philipp Zieger – www.philippzieger-photographie.de Flickr via Compfight cc

Paul’s Resurrection Story

Jim,

I’m enjoying your devotionals. Thanks so much for including them to me. I already get daily messages from Joel Osteen and yours on top of them definitely are highlights of my day. Thanks so much.

My story in life has changed a lot since we served together so long ago.

I transferred to Hawaii for shore duty and struggled through my best efforts to make Chief (US Navy Chief Petty Officer). Finally, I put it all together and was the command SOY (Sailor of the Year) for not just one year, but two in a row. By doing so I made it all the way to (Washington) D.C. for the Navy Sailor of the Year and came in second. Made Chief and immediately went on deployment and things were going well for my career.

Back home though, things were falling apart in my marriage and because of it I went outside the marriage and put my life in a huge tailspin. I tried everything I could to fight my demons but they continually came back to bite me. I was all alone – my wife left the island and took my two kids with her. I had nothing, no place to live and no one to share life with.

After falling into a deep depression, one Sunday morning instead of just staying in bed like I had most every day, I got up and said, “I need to get back to the basics of life and it needs to start with re-establishing my faith.” I went to the base chapel. I sat there in the back and just listened to the service. After the service, I was approached by the LCDR (Lieutenant Commander) pastor, who asked if he could help me. I confessed to him all my sins and I told him I just wanted to find peace in my life.

He met with me a few days later and got me scheduled into professional counseling and I attended meetings there. During one of these meetings the counselor gave me a present, a motivational book written by Joel Osteen. This changed my life because it felt like every hard time that he spoke of that others had gone through and made it through successfully, were the same things I was going through. I used this to refocus my life and be the best person I could be, not only in my career but also personally and within myself.

After being humbled by my actions of the past, I was able to regain confidence in life. I advanced to Senior Chief (Petty Officer), was able to lock down final duty orders as an instructor at the Naval Academy, branched out and started dating again and ultimately met the love of my life, my wife Judy. I retired in 2010, landed a contractor job immediately and one year later was hand picked to work for the Federal government and I’ve been with them for six years now.

I live a very happy life – own a nice home, am financially stable, have a great relationship with my daughters and just enjoy life so much more than I did before. All of this was because I chose to believe in myself and turn my burdens over to God and be a better person from it. I’m certainly not a perfect man, I don’t believe there is such a person. But I do try to be the best ‘me’ I can be, and I know that is a far cry from the man I was more than 10 years before.

Lessons From a Transformed Life

This is a great story! It has a great ending, even though it’s not really over. It is an ongoing story of a transformed life – a story of spiritual resurrection and growth! Here are some things we learn from Paul’s story:

1. You can always turn to Jesus. He is there no matter what we have done or where we have been.
2. It is healthy to confess our sins. Confession helps clear our conscience and makes repentance possible. Repentance is turning from our old ways to follow Jesus.
3. True repentance brings total transformation. While transformation may not be totally instantaneous, it is completely obvious over time. Transformation happens first in our hearts and minds with a new attitude, a new reality and a new outlook.
4. We can recover from the worst mistakes we have made and have a brand new life. No one is beyond repair!
5. We need help along the way. A pastor, a counselor, a famous writer/pastor, and I and probably many more that he has not mentioned have all helped Paul in his new life! You need to find people to help you in your new life!

I would love to hear your story. When you share your story with me, I will keep it confidential unless you give me express permission to share it.

If you have been encouraged by this post, please pass it along.