One of the most amazing blessings of Charlie 22 Outdoors, is keeping in touch with the veterans that we get to meet. We get to hear about their successes. We also get to pray over them during their struggles. Recently, I got to speak with one of the veterans that we met a couple years ago. Without going into great detail, not to long ago he was in a bad spot. Emotionally and spiritually. We put the word out to our prayer warriors to mount up. And boy did they ever. And the turnaround has been incredible.
As we were talking, he said this to me: “I had to go through what I went through, to get to where I am.” Read that again. And maybe read it again. And again. And again. So powerful. So profound. But so spot on. He is absolutely right. Sometimes we go through trials and struggles. Sometimes those moments are more severe and disheartening than other times. Sometimes they seem hopeless and beyond repair.
But, as tough as those times are, if we handle them correctly, we come out stronger on the back end. We come out closer to God. We come out with a testimony that others can learn from as well. And that is exactly what has happened with this veteran. He is smiling again. He is working on continuing to improve. It has been incredible. I was blessed to get to hear this firsthand. God has a plan. A plan for all of us. Sometimes during that plan, we get sidetracked. We lose sight of what is important. We get in the way of the plan. We get in the way of ourselves. I know I do that sometimes. But even though we mess things up, God never waivers. Never changes. And he is always there for us. His heart breaks when we lose focus. But his heart also rejoices whenever we persevere through it. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.
