There once was a man named Bartimaeus, and he was blind. He lives near Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. One day as Jesus is in the area, Bart cries out for mercy. “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me, he cried loudly.” The Lord called him and asked “what do you want from me?” – he replied “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Jesus reply? “Go – your faith has healed you.” And he could see.

Now, I’m not blind – but at a point in my life I might as well have been. My affliction was drunkenness. I started drinking around the age of 15 and by the time I was 30 I was known for being a drunk and drug addict. And a liar, manipulator and probably a host of other, not so pleasant things.

The night before my 30th birthday the shit hit the fan. I attended a huge party with a friend of mine who was a DJ at the local rock station. He was hosting a live remote and we (since it was also the week of his 30th B-day) turned it into a celebration for us. Everyone joined in the fun. Drinks, drugs, it was all hanging out.

Then I drove home. Well most of the way, anyway. I was stopped about 3 miles from home and arrested for DUI – spent the night in the tank with the other drunks. After bonding out the next AM, instead of realizing how much trouble I was in, drove to Tampa to hang with an old friend. Genesis (the band) was playing that night. A 12 pack for the drive over, a 12 pack for the drive to the stadium, another 12 pack for the drive home from the stadium and one more 6 pack for the drive back to Orlando. (Hey, I said I was a drunk!)

The following morning – I awoke, hungover. And being alone with my thoughts, it finally occurred to me how stupid I was and how much trouble I faced. Loss of job – loss of freedom, attorney and court costs and so much more. And I wept bitterly that I would not have to face this.

While I cannot explain why, I cried out to Jesus at that point. He asked me, “Scott – what do you want from me?”  I said Lord, I want to be free of this drunkenness.

Call it a miracle or whatever you like – but Jesus said to me, “Go – your faith has healed you.”  Nineteen plus years later I’ve never had another beer, another shot of alcohol. I had been set free of the drunkenness that made me blind, by the author and Creator of life, Jesus.

If you ask Him, he will do a miracle in your life too – but first you must have faith to believe that He can. I encourage your comments and I look forward to hearing more about your story.  SD