I have something I want to share with you. I’ve been thinking about it for some time now. It’s serious and heart breaking. It’s about a young woman I knew years ago. I’m not going to give her name but it’s a story I feel I need to share at this time.
She was a young woman of thirty-eight with three children. When I met her she was bright and cheerful and loved life and people. When she was herself she was a joy to be around. She was happy, everyone’s friend. She’d do anything she could to help you.
But…her life was in total chaos. From an injury, she got hooked on pain killers that took her down a path no one should ever go.
She told lies upon lies, so that she could get that fix…
Drugs were her only focus…
Prostitution…stealing and time spent behind bars…
Over and over and over and over; like waves tossed about in an ocean she lived in endless torment…Years and years of living a life of hell and defeat…
People who loved her could not trust her, and were done trying to help her…they were exhausted from years of trying, they told her…it was up to her now…
I’m telling you all this for a reason, please bear with me…don’t tune me out…
On this one pivotal day, she appeared at my house…she was dirty, wearing only a house coat…and no shoes…she was frantic, scared and haggard in every way…
She ran to me and hugged me it seemed like a death grip…she was holding on to a life-preserver not wanting to let go…
I said, “Come in let’s get you cleaned up.” There was such a wild look in her eyes but a sigh of relief on her face as she came in…
She took a shower and I gave her some clothes and shoes to wear. She sat down in a chair and I sat across from her. She said, “Marla, I need God!”
I said, “It’s OK, God is right here with you.”
The wildness left her eyes. But she was fidgety.
She was taken to the hospital…she vowed to continue recovery…and she was released to go home.
She came to my house for Christmas she looked rough but hopeful…that was in December…
In February her cousin, a beautiful woman, committed suicide…we all attended the funeral…
In March, this beautiful, broken woman was found…thrown into a shallow grave…she had been murdered…
I’m sorry if this is shocking…but I hope to get your attention I hope that you will hear me…
This life is hard…and it’s messy and it’s terrible and its heart breaking…without Faith and hope and love…even in the best of circumstances…we fail miserably without the Savior…
Why do I write…?
I write to tell you that without Jesus, I could have been that woman…I was going down a path that was leading me straight to hell…and it was only by the grace and mercy of God that I got out of it…
We all have our stories to tell…maybe you know someone like this young woman…maybe she’s you…but you don’t have to continue on that path…there is hope, there is an answer, there is a way to freedom and life and health and joy…
This is the reason I write…to give you the answer…I couldn’t save that one, I couldn’t help her…but maybe just maybe something I write, might help someone to see and change and walk another path….
To this day as far as I know, they never found the person who murdered this young woman…But God knows…
If you are hurting and lost and need help…don’t wait…don’t put it off…the nudging you feel within you is the Holy Spirit saying, make the call…
The pits you’re in, you don’t have to stay in them…
There is hope…
God is with you…
There are two paths in life…
One is Broad…it’s wide open…but it will take you to a shallow grave…
This path will be where the party is…lots of people success, fun times… until it gets you in its grip…deception will stripe you of honor and health and will leave you on the streets with no one and nothing…it will leave you craving for more…there is never enough…
The other is Narrow…there’s just enough room for you and the Savior…it will take you to life and peace…
This path will seem lonely and not popular…there will be tears yes, but you will have peace that passes understanding, more love that can fill the sky…and it will give you people you can trust and depend on, a family that sticks together through everything…there is always enough…
The choice is yours…
#1. The Broad Path or
#2. The Narrow Path
–Marla Shaw O’Neill
“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. Matthew 7:13-14The Message (MSG)
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14New King James Version (NKJV)
