What God Can Do

Today at church I heard the most amazing testimony by James Robison. It's worth retelling.

James' conception was the result of rape. His father was an alcoholic who raped his 40-year-old single mother. His mother tried to abort him, but the doctor she went to refused so she gave birth and decided to give him to a preacher and his wife. He lived his first 5 years with the preacher (whom he called Daddy) and his wife (Mommy) and visited his mother off and on. Even though the couple wanted to adopt him, his mother refused, and at 5 decided that she was going to take James away from them. James said it was the scariest and saddest moment of his life. He remembers his mommy collapsing and sobbing on the floor and his daddy begging his mother to not take him away. He ran to hide under the bed, but his mother drug him out by his ankles and took him away from the only home he had ever known.

Since his mother didn't have a job, money or a home, they hitchhiked across the country staying with various relatives, friends, or anyone that would open their doors to them. He would sit on the side of the highway on a brown cardboard suitcase that he, to this day, displays in his office. He moved 17 times before he was in the 6th grade, so he never had any friends. His Daddy and Mommy tried to keep in touch with him, sending him letters and gifts, but one day, it all stopped and he didn't know why. He decided that it was because they didn't love him anymore. He grew to trust no one. Later he learned that his mother, because of her jealousy, returned all the gifts to his "adopted" parents and asked them not to send anymore.

It gets worse before it gets better; at 14 his alcoholic father reenters their lives and becomes abusive and one night tries to choke his mother to death. He grabs his rifle, tells his father that if he moves an inch, he will blow a hole into him...and he means it. Shortly after that, his father is sent to prison. At 16 his mother gives him an incredible gift. She says he can go visit the preacher and his wife for a week. Apprehensively, he calls them, not sure if they want to see him, thinking that they have forgotten about him. They both start sobbing on the phone and tell him they will come the next morning to get him. They arrive in an air-conditoned car (which he had never been in) and take him back to the house where he had lived 11 years ago. They shower him with their love and tell him that they never stopped praying for him. In fact, the whole church had been praying for him.

That week, on Sunday night, at his Daddy's church, James listened to the testimonies of the various youth get up and talk about what Jesus meant to them. Sure, James had heard of Jesus, he had tried church and religion before, but these kids were talking about Jesus as if they had a relationship with him. Later his Daddy asked if anyone wanted to ask Jesus into their heart and come to the alter. James wanted to, but he was scared. He looks up and sees his mommy walking down the isle towards him, holding onto her glasses because she is crying so hard, and she grabs James' hand and says, "I'll go with you." For the first time, James felt a love that was indescribable wash over him. He wasn't the bastard child of a rape victim, but a wanted and loved child of God. His life meant something; Jesus was willing to be crucified on a cross and shed his blood so that James could have eternal life. He was free of shame, of anger, of bitterness and unforgiveness because Jesus took that burden on himself; he didn't have to carry it anymore.

By 19, James was a preacher and was traveling and evangelizing with the likes of Billy Graham in football stadiums, coliseums and the largest churches in America. He has led thousands to know Christ. For 20 years he has founded and ran an organization called Life Outreach International that has fed thousands of starving children and since 2000 has drilled more than 1500 wells in villages worldwide.

I had to retell this story because it touched me so much. The power of the holy spirit is so awesome and inspiring! God has used James to fulfil the promise that he has for us all; that we are here for a reason. To love each other; to reach out to the sick, needy, broken souls; to share the good news of Jesus.

Now I have shared it with you.