SS 6 “Anger Gone”

This week’s Salvation Story picks up with another nephew, the older brother of Jacob, whom you read about last month. Though this, too, began with a crisis, as most blessings do, it was a far cry from last month’s; nevertheless, Tommy’s story may be something you and your family can relate to more easily.

As I said last week, the history of my sister’s family was very much like what we each have had to deal with. My sister’s husband cheated on her, but instead of turning to the Lord (as we were so blessed to be led to do), she sadly confronted her husband. And to no surprise, he refused to choose my sister over the OW, so in anger, rooted in deep hurt, my sister packed up her children just three weeks after she’d given birth to her fourth.

Without a Heavenly Father (to the fatherless), her boys turned to drugs when they became teens. Soon after Jacob got off drugs, so did the oldest, Tommy, who discovered being a chef was a way to find acceptance and recognition.

It was years later, after I heard that his wedding was called off, just one week prior, when my sister called crying. She said she was to blame for Tommy’s anger issues and what caused this engagement to fall short of marriage. It had happened at least twice before. His anger had frightened off his fiancés, leaving my sister to believe that he’d never marry and have a family of his own.

Listening with a compassionate ear, at the same time, I was also asking God for wisdom with a heart to know what He wanted me to say to her. Without really thinking about what I was saying, I assured her that this broken engagement was a good thing because this heartbreak would lead Tommy to realize he too needed a Savior to heal his hurts—and once his hurts were healed—his anger would also be gone.

I’m not entirely sure about all the details, but I believe it was Tommy’s sister, Joy, who asked him to go to church with them (my niece’s family) while he was visiting her. Tommy may have been resistant to becoming a Christian in the past because his hero was his brother-in-law, who was/is a Navy Seal. And who, at the time, still hadn’t come to realize his need for a Savior himself. 

Nevertheless, there is no one who can escape salvation once the Savior calls them. No one. So God knew what it would take to get his attention and prepare his heart to reach out to Him, broken, ready for a Savior.  A favorite verse I use for many occasions is “He removed lover and friend” (Psalm 88: 8, 18) making Tommy “loathsome”  to yet another beautiful fiancé who abandoned Tommy just a week before walking down the aisle.

The morning he went to church with his sister and her children, I heard my nephew literally ran to the altar and spent several hours after the service with the pastor confessing a litany of faults he pleaded with God to fix. When I heard the Good News I was more than elated—I also just knew that God had someone better for Tommy, just waiting for him to marry and told my sister this very thing.

It took less than a year for Tommy to meet his bride at a Bible study! Gone was the angry man, and in place of the angry man was a calm, introspective, broken man who didn’t act out when hurt. A year and a half after they married, I saw the picture of Tommy holding his adorable son, who looked just like Tommy as a baby!! I have to say there are many men who "appear" happy to be a father, but this picture of Tommy holding his son was the epitome of a man who knew he was a blessed man!!

I’m sure Tommy, his mom, and the rest of his family never thought he’d be blessed with such a beautiful wife and such an adorable son when he married so much later in life—well past when most young men marry. Yet, it’s never too late for the Lord to move. In fact, we know that waiting and coming too late is often a way to draw more attention to God’s ability to do the impossible.

So, if you have family members you believe are unreachable or it’s been said it’s simply too late for them—just wait and believe!! God has a perfect plan set for an appointed time. So, stop and take just a minute to write down what you have confidence He’s going to do, date it, and attach some Bible Promises to it. The easiest way is to send yourself an email.

Then simply give God time to finish working on the epistle, the chapter of your life, and theirs—acknowledging it may appear He’s too late—when, in fact, He’s just allowing the situation to get dark enough for His miracle to shine a light on the impossible becoming reality!! 

Update: Recently, I saw pictures of Tommy and his growing family. Not only was he blessed with a beautiful wife and an adorable son, but they welcomed a blue-eyed baby girl who looks just like Tommy when he was a baby. They are such a wonderful, beautiful family.

*Watching Tommy's gorgeous, well-behaved children grow up (who also have the most wonderful Southern accents that melt my heart), He always brings me back to how dire and impossible this situation was and what God needed to do.