Ep. 29 - A God of Second Chances
In this episode, I cover the miracle God did in the life of my dad back in the Fall of 2019. God is a god of many chances, and hopefully this episode helps remind you of how powerful our Lord really is. No problem in our life is too big for God.
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Intro (0:07)
Welcome to The Message Podcast with yours truly Angel. This month’s episode is called “A God of Second Chances.” Now in reality, God is actually a God of infinite chances, but for the premise of this episode and the testimony I’m going to share, you’ll see why I chose with second. Anyways I hope everything is well with you. It is currently July of 2020 and it’s a little crazy to believe we’re kind of midway through summer. As of right now here in Long Island, New York, we’re hitting Phase 4 this week and I couldn’t be more excited for things to get back to normal. It’s been an interesting couple of months to say the least. Lot of uncertainty. With uncertainty at times, comes worrying. Worrying about the unknown. Will the world ever be the same after this? Will there be another wave of the virus that leads to another quarantine? Is the world ending? Is this a sign of the second coming of Christ being soon? So many questions, that only God knows the answers to. During these couple of months, I won’t lie, I was blessed to have had the opportunity to still work during this quarantine and since I’m mostly a homebody, I didn’t have much of an issue being at home as long as I had my laptop and an Xbox close by haha. Now if I didn’t have that, I don’t know how I would’ve been doing. But on a more serious note, there were times I started to worry a bit.
During the first month of quarantine, I remember reading on shortages for everyday common items such as toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies. How long will be normal? I remember not meal prepping for a long time, just because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of putting on gloves and a mask, to go shopping. If I touch the groceries, does that mean I have to use disinfectant wipes on all my groceries? It was just a lot of worrying. Thankfully, God is a god of miracles. God is a god who works constantly in our lives, and He reminds us through His work that He is always in control. I want to share a story with you of one of the biggest miracles in my life, and I truly hope that whatever you may be facing at this moment, that you may encouraged that God is in control and can do anything.
The story I want to share, is of my father. If you’ve been tuning in, you may remember last year I was talking about my father. The summer of 2019 was a really tough season for me and probably the toughest in my life thus far, and that was mainly because of my father’s health. My father was going through Cirrhosis of the liver and actually was given a timeline of two years max if he didn’t find a donor for a liver transplant. It was a tough season for me, but as you’ll see in this testimony, I serve a merciful God whose will just so happened to include a second chance for my dad.
Growing Up (03:12)
So growing up I probably had the most memories with my dad than my other two brothers. I always loved my dad but I did fear him a little bit when I was younger. Although he was always known for being selfless, forgiving, and incredibly smart, smart like he probably build a house kind of smart, he was also pretty strict and had a tough interior. Family life was good in the the first couple of years, until alcoholism came back into his life. You see my dad got exposed to alcohol at a young age and because of that, had to battle alcoholism in his life. It came when I was a toddler. Alcohol changed him. He became irresponsible, and so couldn’t provide the stable environment that was needed to raise two boys at the time. My mother had the final straw when we ended up going to a shelter for a few days because of all this. This eventually led to a divorce, and it was rough. Rough enough that my father used alcohol as a way to cope with the divorce.
Growing up was tough. I grew up not having much of a father figure but besides my uncle and eventually my step-dad. But overall I felt like besides my mom, I was on my own. Being the oldest wasn’t easy. I didn’t have a blueprint from an older brother to follow. Made a lot of mistakes along the way, but God used everything to mold me into the God fearing man that I am today. I suppose in a way, the broken home I grew up in, gave me motivation to never repeat those same mistakes when the season comes that I start a family of my own. To this day, I’ve never picked up a drink of alcohol. While I do understand drinking is not a sin and I have friends who drink, the experiences of having seen my dad change from alcoholism have left such a bitter taste in my mouth no pun intended, that I have no interest in drinking ever. I made sure that I kept myself out of trouble, because everything I experienced, made me want to be different.
Reconciliation (05:12)
Throughout my teenager years, honestly I really didn’t see him all that much. Really because my brothers and I remembered some of the not so fun moments with my dad. Don’t get me wrong we would at times visit him and have fun, but then he’d have a couple of drinks and then it wasn’t so fun being around that. I had a fight over the phone with my dad and I didn’t speak to him for years. A few years ago around the summer of 2016 is when things started to change. My brother and I had decided to visit my dad one day, and we found out that my dad had quit drinking cold turkey. Because of this, his demeanor really started to change, and he was slowly becoming the dad we always wanted him to be. Instead of forgetting to call us on our birthdays and on Christmas, he would call us to wish us a happy birthday and send us a gift through the mail. Out of the three, I was the first to really reconcile things with my dad. In terms of my faith, I was the first of three brothers to re-dedicate myself to Christ. And experiencing God’s love and seeing His work in my life, left me no room to hold grudges. I saw my dad for who he was. A creation of God that was made to serve and glorify Him through his life. The issue is, the enemy had a hold on his life through alcoholism. My dad was never my enemy, the enemy, was my enemy.
Ephesians 6:12 says,
“For we[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
The further I got in this journey with Christ, the more I understood this. Anyways, I told him one night about how I felt about everything, and my dad apologized and told me he wished he never picked up a beer in his life. He wanted me to understand that he wanted to make back the time he lost out on his three boys. My other two brothers took a little longer to forgive and re-establish a relationship, but it ended up happening which brought me a ton of joy.
Timing Couldn’t Have Been Worse (07:21)
And yet as things were looking great between my dad and his three boys, is when we got the bad news, my dad was dying. My dad’s drinking apparently had caught up to him, and him quitting was a little too late. I was visiting him every now and then, mostly due to being caught up in work, so the next time that I saw him, I couldn’t help but break down. He had gone to the hospital a little bit before that because, his body was swelling up. He diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver. My dad had lost a ton of weight as a result. His body was not processing his fluids the way it should, and he needed to drained every couple of weeks. He lost so much color in his face and one could tell his circulation wasn’t working 100% either. What hurt me the worst was when I read in the diagnosis that this doesn’t improve. I rarely cry unless I’m laughing, but I couldn’t help but break down in front of him. It hurt to see my dad like that. It felt like the timing couldn’t have been any worse. God really? My dad may end up dying from this? My dad is finally fixing his mistakes and mending his relationship with his kids, and now this? My dad may miss my wedding? I may have to tell stories of my dad, instead of my kids visiting him? So many thoughts rushed through my head, but I had peace with something God said in that moment.
God spoke to me in that moment. I remember clear as day hearing, “You will be the bridge that leads him to me.” As hard as everything was, it comforted me. But I was under the impression that my dad was going to die soon, and his salvation was what I had to make sure he had. My dad prays daily and believes Jesus is the messiah, but his faith wasn’t where it should’ve been and so I had push out of my comfort zone and have those talks about faith with my dad. I wanted my dad to understand that I don’t blindly follow Christianity. I needed him to understand that I am a product of God’s work in my life. I needed him to know God is not only real, but that He loves him and wants him to surrender his life to Him. I didn’t know how much time I had.
Tons of Trips (09:45)
And let me tell you, Summer of 2019 was crazy. I was going to the hospital just about every two weeks, without my air conditioner working in my car at the time which was rough. But I needed to know that in my conscious that I was doing everything I could as his son who carried his name, to help him in anyway I could. So anytime he needed to go to the hospital for something needed to put him on the donor list, I was there. I wanted him to know I had his back. We bonded a ton in those car rides. We would blast salsa music and karaoke in the car. We had talks about guy stuff, stuff I preferred to not speak with my mom about. I would update him on how life was going and I remember him always asking when i was dropping new music. It meant a lot to see him proud of the man I became. I remember him making me breakfast every time I picked up him, and bringing it to me to my car while we drove to the city. Those moments I will cherish forever. We grew so much closer. And I was at peace that I showed my dad that he will always be able to count on me.
Being at the hospital there hurt sometimes to be honest. If I wasn’t there, who would be? Who would be in the waiting room with him as he waits for some type of exam. Even thinking about it now hurts. What brings me comfort is that, I was there. I was sitting right besides him in the waiting room at a New York City hospital. I didn’t have to wonder him being there alone going through this, because I was with him. I was with him a ton. To get on a donor list meant a ton of visits to the city, as well as east Long Island. But he’s my dad. I was going to everything I could to make sure he was on that list.
The doctor said if he didn’t get a transplant in two years, well let’s just say I wouldn’t have a dad here anymore. He’s not one to show emotion, but it hurt to see him acknowledge that maybe he wasn’t going to make it out of this. I remember praying daily for my dad. I was fully accepting that I may lose my dad to those liver disease, and I wouldn’t be upset at God for it. I wanted His will to be done, and not mine. All I asked, was for my father to have an encounter with Him. I wanted to see my dad when my time came.
A Miracle (12:10)
Back in October of 2019, I had just started a new job in Insurance, when in the middle of the day I got a phone call from my dad. I was talking to my supervisor when my dad called so I didn’t get a chance to see that my phone had rang. I got a little worried since he knew I was at work, so it had to be important. And that’s when I got the news. My dad was being driven to the hospital in the city, because they found him a donor. I couldn’t believe it. I immediately texted my mom because they’re on good terms, as well as my brothers about the good news. My dad now has another chance at life. The donor was of a 35 year old male who unfortunately had passed away from a car accident. I prayed for his family for strength and healing during that time, because losing a loved one is one of the hardest things one will ever go through. I was grateful that he had signed up to be an organ donor, because now my dad has a second chance.
Recovery (13:05)
I didn’t hear from him until I saw him that weekend, granted it was on a Friday. Would’ve seen him sooner but with a job that I had just started, I didn’t want to play around too much with leaving early and stuff. The doctor had kept me posted and called me to let me know the surgery was a success. That fast my father went from dying, to now having a second chance. It’s insane! The surgery was on a Friday, and I didn’t get to see him until Sunday. When I got there with my mom, no joke my mom did not recognize him. My dad in the span of two days had changed drastically. The blood flow was clearly functioning clearly again. His face went from a yellowish tone to reddish because blood was circulating normal. His face looked fuller, due to his body not retaining fluids in his abdomen. Craziest part, is He was able to drink water on his own. He’s a tough son of a gun let me tell you, and he left the surgeons shocked. My dad is not in his twenties like I am. Yet my dad recovered so quick, that He was discharged within ten days. He had zero complications from the surgery and healed quicker than anticipated to the point where he was told he was able to stop taking some of the medicines early.
It’s now July 2020 and my dad looks healthier than he has in the last fifteen years. He tells me all the time on how amazing he feels physically now that he doesn’t have stomach pain from the fluids being retained in the body. I’m so grateful. I remember driving back home after having visited him, and crying tears of joy because of what the Lord allowed. God blessed my dad, with another opportunity at life.
Second Chance (14:47)
Now I want to say this too. My dad didn’t necessarily deserve the transplant. There are people who are wealthy that die waiting for a donor. There are children at this moment that need a donor. I told my dad this too, and I’m glad he’s aware of this too. He acknowledges that it’s God who allowed him with another opportunity. I told my dad I’m confident that the only reason my dad is still breathing is because the Lord I serve is not done with him yet. When He is, well God will be there to help me through it, as He has with every difficult season of my life. Until then, I enjoy seeing my dad be transformed little by little, and being able to spend time with his three sons that love him and spend time with him. Didn’t think the story would end this way, but God likes to surprise us sometimes and surpasses what we ask for.
Words of Encouragement (15:42)
Whenever I go through a tough season, I remind myself of this story here, to help anchor me in remembering of how powerful God is. So I want to encourage you with this story, that God is almighty. God is all powerful. God is a miracle worker. God can change your circumstances. So I urge you to surrender everything to him if you haven’t already done so.
1 Peter 5:7 says,
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
God cares about you. God cares about what you’re going through during this season. Whether it be unemployment, health issues with you or a loved one, or even a heartbreak. Whatever you’re going through, know that God wants to hear from you. God wants you to give all your worries and cares to Him. Easier said than done, but boy will He shock you with what He does with that. I also want you to understand that while God answers all prayers, it may not always be the answer we desire. Last year, I was fully accepting that my dad may pass way from liver disease, but I trusted in God’s sovereign plan. So regardless of what the answer is from God, remember that He is still good. God loves you.
Prayer (17:00)
I want to close the podcast with prayer as always. I believe there is power in prayer and I’d like to pray with you at this moment. All of us go through something. However big or small the problems we face, there is a God who is bigger than them all.
Dear heavenly father, Lord I first and foremost want to thank you for being so amazing. Thank you for being so loving, so full of grace, full of mercy, always ready to give us another second chance when we stumble and fall short of your glory. God we thank you because you have created us with purpose. You created us to do great things here on earth in your name. Lord while we are in this world, we are not of it. As a result, we live in a broken world where daily we face trials. Some are more difficult than others, but God help us always remember that you have overcome the world. There is no problem too small or too big that we cannot call on you to help us through it. Lord thank you for wanting a relationship with us. Thank you for wanting us to give you all our worries and cares, because you love us that much. You want us to be filled with joy, and not worry. God the enemy is on this earth to steal, kill, and destroy, but let us always remember that you have come to give us life, and life in abundance. Lord we may we always remember that you are all good, and that you are sovereign. Help us have strength, guidance, and peace during moments of uncertainty. Let us always cling to your word, and seek your presence in prayer as well, for guidance in this life here on earth. Lord we thank you so much because you won’t ever turn away from those who call on you. You will always be there for us. You know what we need before we even tell you. Lord help us trust in your will always. Thank you Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Outro (18:58)
Well that brings us to the end of this podcast. I truly hope that this testimony was able to bring you encouragement in anyway. I serve a God who is absolutely amazing and love us all the same. Remember that He has a plan for you and wants to hear from you! I know worrying happens, but remember God wants it and we don’t have to keep it.
Please feel free to share this episode with someone who may need some encouragement as well. I know I was never meant to keep this story to myself, and the Lord wanted me to share this because there is always someone going through a tough season where encouragement always helps. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already done so. I drop a new podcast episode every month on the 7th and it’s available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and of course my website at mynameisangel.com
I want you to know as well I’m always available on social media or even through my contact form on my website, if you ever want to reach out to me. Whether it be for prayer, encouragement, advice on anything, or even to say what’s up, just know I’m available! In regards to social media, Instagram is the one I’m most active in besides Tik Tok because could you blame me with the all of those funny videos? Haha but anyways my Instagram username is @OfficialAngelTV.
Thank you so much for tuning in and giving me your time today. I hope your spirits are up and please remember that there is a God that is infinitely bigger than any problem we will ever face in this life on earth. I love you and until next time, this has been The Message. God bless you.
