Rock Bottom

 Rock Bottom...No, I do not mean the wrestling move by "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson.  Rock Bottom; I mean getting to the point in life when you realize you cannot get any lower.  It is at this point a person decides to make a life change.  This happened to me in my life just before I was married.  I almost lost Becca due to an addiction.  During this difficult time, God grabbed a hold of me and gave me strength to face my issues and truly turn to Him.

What stuck out in my reading today?  Verses 16 to 18a say, "He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!I will set out and go back to my father."

Why did this stick out to me?  These few verses stuck out to me because the prodigal is at a place in life where I was.  I can totally identify with being at the bottom of the pit with nothing left but the realization that my Father would care for my most basic needs; especially since I cannot meet them by myself!

How will this apply in my life?  All through growing up, I was told that what I was doing was bad.  It was sinful.  It hurt others deeply.  It would soon take over my life.  It would destroy relationships.  I was told all of this, yet somehow I believed it would not happen to me.  I would be stronger, I would be able to stop, and even that I was justified in doing it.  As I grew up and moved from home and to college, I realized what I was told became true.  I was sinning.  I was hurting others.  I had no control over my life.  My relationships were completely devastated.  I knew the warning signs, I knew what I was risking.  Yet it took me hitting rock bottom to realize the extent of the pain I was causing.  Why did I have to hit rock bottom instead of listening to those around me?

What is your story?  Have you ever hit rock bottom?  Are you still in the pit, or have you been lifted out?

In His service, Crazy Pete