From the book, The Father Factor, by Jim and Merry Corbett
Chris stared at the needle tracks in his arm, a constant reminder of the choices he had made to bring himself to this point in his life. Once a successful businessman on his way to the top with a loving wife and family, he could only lament over the turns his life had taken because of his addictions. How could he have fallen so far? How could his needs mean more to him than those he once loved and who once loved him?
He had to make a choice, or he was going to die as one more hapless vagrant in some garbage-strewn alley. He had to choose either life or death. He knew it and he knew how difficult the road back would be. Picking up the filthy needle, he inserted it in his arm once again. As the drug flowed through his body, he resolved that maybe he would choose to love his wife more than his habit tomorrow. Maybe he could help his kids tomorrow. Maybe … Chris rolled into a smelly corner near a large dumpster and passed out.
Across town, Jerry turned the corner and drove into the parking lot of his club. Late for his meeting, he had shaken off the pleading look in his son’s eyes that said, “Please, Daddy, stay here with Mommy and me.” Business once again called. It was going to be one more late night, one more closed deal that allowed him to live the way he wanted. “Success has its price,” he thought to himself. Anyway, to change direction in life now would be almost impossible. He was way too far down the corporate road to give his family the amount of personal time with him they seemed to need.
Maybe one day his wife and family would realize that he was doing this all for them. It was a time in life to set them up, so they wouldn’t have to grow up in poverty as he did. They needed to realize that. He was sure that God knew that.
“Why don’t I have peace in my heart, Lord? Why can’t I shake off the look that Tommy gave me? Why do I feel so bad when I’m doing so much for them?”
As he locked his car and headed for the club entrance, Jerry resolved to spend more time at home tomorrow. Tomorrow he would give some special time to his wife, Susan. Tomorrow, he would really focus on her insistent need to be with him and make some changes that he knew were necessary to be the husband and father she and Tommy wanted. Oh wait, tomorrow was that conference in Detroit …
Whatever vehicle Satan uses to hinder the work of God, whether dismal failure, monumental success, or anything in between, the results are always the same - an insignificant life standing before Father God one day. His entrapment is so diabolical that the road back is impossible to embrace without God’s involvement and intervention.
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Jim Corbett