The Day God Spoke to Me Through the Beatles

I was talking with someone earlier today and it got me thinking about how God speaks to us in so many ways. We live in a day where everyone wants the pastor, the evangelist, (or whoever) to "give us a word." Let me go on record as saying I know that the Lord does this, but I am very guarded about most of those who have a word for someone all the time. I believe God wants so desperately to talk to us one on one, and He is always trying to do just that if we will only listen! I won't go into a discourse on how God speaks, other than to mention that first, he gave us the Bible, which when read with prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to bring it to life, will speak loud and clear to us. God sometimes speaks directly to our hearts. Sometimes through others. But I also wanted to point out, and the focus of this post is that God speaks to us through the everyday things of life. Believe it or not, he even speaks through things that are not Christian. Case in point, God once spoke to me through John, Ringo, George, and Paul... the Beatles.

When I was a young man of 22, I thought life was over. Because of a lot of stupid choices in life, a lot of drugs and alcohol, I was facing prison and every friend I had relied on for years to get me through had abandoned me. I had attempted suicide several times and one day in June of 1981 I had made up my mind on when and how I was going to kill myself. My family had all left for the state camp meeting that day, and I began to drink heavily and was popping pills like they were candy. I took handfuls of uppers and downers, along with a host of pain pills and anti-depressants. I figured I would take enough pills of enough variety that even if they found me, there would be no drug they could give me to counteract what I had taken. I remember sitting there swallowing one handful of pills after another and crying as I reflected on the miserable wreck that my life had become. I remember thinking that no one could ever understand or care about me again. I had blown it. As I sought a reason to live, I said out loud, "There is no one left to help me" and I lay down on the couch to die. 

All of a sudden, I became acutely aware of the song playing on the radio. It was as if the words were amplified in my head and there was not another sound in the world. Those words were these:

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?

All of a sudden, all the years of sitting in church came rushing into me, and I lay there and said, "God, I'm not even sure anymore if you exist, but if you are there, can you help me?" Just a minute later I became violently ill and vomited like I had never vomited before and then passed out on the floor. I woke up the next morning and realized God was trying to get my attention.
That night, I found myself sitting in the Illinois Camp meeting service and I gave my life to Jesus and things have never been the same.
After all of these years, I still find it kind of funny that God used the words of the Beatles to get my attention?
If we will listen, he is speaking all the time.