Section: Beyond this Planet Home> About us > Our church > Duncan's Story

When I was thirteen I made a commitment to Christ. It was very sincere, but, through various bad choices, I ended up in a mess! I ignored God and ended up on drugs, involved in the occult and was in a pretty bad state. Despite this, God in His love, met me one night. 

The wrong direction
I had just taken some drugs and went out to get more.  In my befuddled state I got on the wrong bus.  It took me to what I imagined was the dealer’s house, but instead, I was welcomed in by some Christians, who were having a prayer and praise meeting!  By the time I realized my mistake, I couldn’t find a way to escape. 

At the end of the meeting, the leaders patiently talked with me until four that morning.  Over the next six months, I still used drugs, but attended the occasional meeting.  At one, I was actually stoned out of my mind. 

God called my name
During the prayer time I heard my name called three times, yet no one in the room was looking at me.  I said in my heart: ‘God, if that is you, what do you have to say to me?’

Again I heard His audible voice: ‘This is your night of decision. Decide for Me tonight, or leave this house. If you go, that will be the end of it.’

There and then I yielded my all to Him.  I didn’t say anything, just took off the beads I wore constantly.  They were a symbol of my old life.  I was repenting and turning my back on it. With God’s help I later went ‘cold turkey’ and came off the drugs completely. 

You might wonder ‘Why and how could God do that?’ He did it because He loved me and He did it through the work that Christ, in His love, did for me on Calvary. This work was real and it lasted; a miracle of the love and power of God! 

Christianity a cop-out?
Time passed and I met my wife, Margaret. God was with me, leading me, providing for me and revealing more and more of His love. Life, however, was not all ‘hunky-dory’.

Some say that choosing Christianity is a cop out – that Christians  expect all their problems to fade away! On the contrary, I found that I faced problems on every side, but I know from experience that there is nothing that my God cannot do, no need of mine that He cannot meet and there is no problem that I need fear, because I have Him!

Isaiah declares, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isa.26:3 )

That means that a person can look at life, with all its problems and everything that might be thrown at them, and say: ‘I trust in God! He may not change my circumstances but He will see me through no matter what happens!’ 

Terrible temptation
Something happened one night when my young son, David, was ill. He was only six years old and had terminal cancer. Margaret and I do believe in God’s healing power and we have seen evidence of this on a number of occasions. We also know that there are times when God, in His wisdom, does not heal. David’s illness progressed and we’d reached that stage where we moved him into our room to share our bed with his Mum, to have her help and comfort, while I slept on the floor.

I couldn’t bear to see him suffer, and had arrived at a dangerous position. One night, as I lay on my side in the dark, through the bedroom door that stood ajar, I could see into the kitchen. In the fridge, we had pure morphine for David. We had needles and syringes. 

Who cares?
Now, for me, an ex-addict, to be bombarded with craving was worse than ravenous hunger. That night, totally unexpectedly, I was sorely tempted. I said to myself: ‘If I take some morphine it will relieve my inner pain.’ Then: ‘You could take too much, enough to blot out the pain forever!’ 
I began to get up from the floor and move towards the kitchen.
I thought ‘What does it matter? Who cares?’ 
As soon as I had said that, God spoke clearly again: ‘I care!’

Without doing anything else I simply lay back down on the floor again, so very aware of the love of God. Bathed in that love of God, I drifted peacefully off to sleep. 

God cares
This was a very decisive experience for me. I knew that God cared in a way that I had not known before. I also knew that God could reach into my circumstanced and tackle anything! 
He did not change the circumstances but He changed me in them and I praise God that He also broke any temptation regarding drugs. Never again have I experienced this. This is wonderful in itself. 
I found that God could deal with my problem, with my character, and with my dependency or whatever it was. He did it because He loved me 

It’s for you
Its great to know that God doesn’t love only me, but the Bible (John 3.16),says that God so loved everybody, that He gave Christ.
If you don’t know Christ as your personal Saviour you can come to Him this very minute. He came right to where I was, on the floor, that night and He can come to you right where you are now, as you are reading this.

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