Albert was one of those hundreds that got caught in a
vicious cycle of drugs and started injecting himself with heroin, alcohol,
smoking pot, the whole works. He always
carried a knife in his pocket and his hand would draw to his knife if he found
anyone staring at him for too long. He
was the gang leader, but slowly that position of honor fell as he delved deeper
into drugs.
He had to leave home as he was so heavy on dope his family
could not handle it or help him. He
rarely took a bath and even looked ugly with the gauntness of his bones and
unhealthy skin pallor with a bluish tinge to it.
One night in Bangaluru, he searched the streets for a place
to sleep. It was an extremely cold winter
night and he shivered, thinly clad as the cold air ripped him. He gathered newspapers and huddled down on
the streets covering himself with the newspapers. "Well, this is a bit better!" he
reflected to himself, trying to cheer himself up. He made it through that night
and many more nights and days on Johnson streets, often having to ask
passerby's for money as he had none.
Many would look at him, shudder and turn the other way.
One evening as he was walking along Johnson Street, he saw
another boy he knew and felt glad to see him.
As he approached him with a smile on his face, the boy looked at him,
and abruptly turned and walked away. He
obviously recognized him but wanted nothing to do with him. At that moment, he felt the familiar sting of
rejection.
He was deeply hurt and also badly shaken. He slowly walked down the road that cold night
thinking "Why am I like this? What
happened to me?" He walked to a
park near the market. He could see his
house across the park. He sat down in
the park and thought for a while.
At that moment a song suddenly popped into his head. It was as if God reminded him of a song which
he learned in Sunday school. The song went like this “Jesus loves me, this I
know, for the Bible tells me so…….”. He asked
God, "Do you really love me? Nobody
loves me in this world. if you really
love me, get me out of this mess."
As he spoke to God for the first time, he felt a
supernatural peace filling his heart. It
was an amazing sensation. He never felt
like this before, not even when he was high on a drug trip! In fact, that was nothing compared to this,
this had the essence of purity. He knew
it was God.
He realized he wanted to kick something out of his life real
fast. He searched his pockets for all
the drugs he had there, and with a matchbox that he had, made a bonfire of all
the drugs. As he watched them going up
in smoke, he felt exhilarated and liberated.
It was a miracle! He was set free
instantly from drugs.
He then made his way home.
As he knocked on the door, his mother opened the door and gasped with
joy to see him, declaring happily, "I was praying for you and I knew you
would come home."
This was the beginning of a new life for him. He had no withdrawals, no cold turkey, no
shivering-wet-drenched sweats and never had the urge for a drug again.
That was around twenty years ago. It was an outstanding miracle. Jesus broke his chains and set him free
instantly! He did not go through any
medication, but God delivered him.
Now, Albert has started a rehabilitation home for drug
addicts called Abhayam in Bangaluru, India, helping hundreds.
The touch of God is a transformation that lasts forever.
Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents. I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down. I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down. Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." There is always blessing in showers of rain. The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually. May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you. This is my prayer for you.
Rita.
Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.
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