A Bright Future After All
18 kojministries.org Issue 1 2018
by Jack Hayes
My childhood, as much as I can remember,
was great. I spent most of my youth in a small
Texas town that was sheltered from the craziness
of this world.
I had all the things a kid could need as far as
structure…things like family dinners and movie
nights. My mother instilled Christian values into
my life and insisted I attend church, much to my
dismay. She and my stepfather taught me right
from wrong by their actions and words. Though I
didn’t know it, I was blessed.
As a young man, I spent my free time fishing,
hiking, and playing basketball, football, and golf.
When I was fourteen, my uncle took me up in
his plane, and I fell in love with flying. It wasn’t
too long before I had met all the requirements
necessary to obtain a private pilot’s license—
except one. I wasn’t yet seventeen.
Also during this time, my stepfather’s job
moved us from Texas to Florida. I loved that idea.
Florida meant beaches and Disney World and…
who wouldn’t want to go?
I had a lot going for me. In fact, I had
everything the world would say I needed to be a
success. But the world was wrong.
Though I enjoyed the perks that came with
being part of my family, I was harboring a
growing rebellion against authority. By the time
we got to Florida, all I could think about was
doing things my way. I resented the rules of my
mother and stepfather and began acting out. My
mother was at her wits’ end. A few weeks after
we moved, I got caught smoking a joint. The
very next day, my mother put me on an airplane
headed right back to Texas, to live with my father.
I couldn’t have been happier. At Dad’s, it
would be party time!
Within three months, the school called a
meeting with my dad to discuss me once and
for all—but before they could make any decision,
I dropped out.
I showed them who they were messing with; I
was the boss of me.
With no school or job, I spent my time feeding
my rebellious nature. I drank alcohol and got
high on any drug I could get hold of. Over the
next few years, I continued this behavior without
remorse until it destroyed everything and
everyone in my life.
In 2003, I found myself surrounded by police
in the parking lot of a Florida gas station. I was
in a car full of stolen guns, welders, jewelry, and
drugs. My life of rebellion had finally caught up
with me.
The courts decided a ten-year mandatory
prison bid might do me some good. And it did.
In prison, I had time to think about my life and
my future—and I had time to figure out where
things had gone awry.
When I was released from prison in 2013, I
was determined to get it right this time. I would
live right, find a nice wife, have a kid, and live
happily ever after.
Well, I did get it right for a while. I got a
decent job and a nice house, but something was
missing. I still felt empty. And when the pressures
of life began to mount, I fell right back into the
vicious cycle of addiction…this time, heroin.
The courts sent me back to prison—or was it
God? I like to think the one thing I was missing
(God) sent me back to prison so I could discover
the secret to truly living. The secret is Jesus Christ.
In prison, God placed strong men of faith in
my life, who pointed me straight to God. They
taught me to cast my cares onto God’s shoulders
and to live in His strength.
For so long, I had attempted to carry the
burdens of the world, but they were too heavy.
I crumbled under the weight every time. With
my new relationship with Jesus, however, and
through the knowledge and application of His
Word, I finally discovered the solid foundation
on which I could build my future.
Prior to Christ, I lived a life of rebellion, a life
centered on me. Today, my life is centered on
Christ and who I am in Him. This doesn’t mean
all my struggles have gone away; I still have
difficult days. But because I am living in God’s
strength, life’s burdens are no longer too heavy
to bear.
Thoughts often arise, taunting me, telling me
I’ll never have that bright future I long for; that
I’ll never be able to handle what comes my way.
The old me would have bowed to those thoughts
and reached for a substance to numb my fear.
The new me, however, remembers the truth of
2 Corinthians 12:9, and I know—God’s grace is
sufficient for me, and His power is made perfect
in my weakness. I’m not alone in my struggles.
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