He Gambled the Mortgage Money Chasing 'The Next One's a Sure Thing'

Pastor Cole: Well, welcome to Kingdom Stories. My guest today isn't from around here at all — Ray came to us out of Modesto, California, way out in the Central Valley. Some mutual friends of ours told me about his story, and I said, well, I've got to hear that firsthand. So thank you for making the trip, brother. Ray — where does this story start?

Ray: Man, honestly? It starts pretty boring. I got my own shop — transmissions, brakes — Gina and the two kids at home, and I was the guy, y'know? Provider. Good with my hands, always figured I could out-think any problem. And one slow Tuesday I'm standing there with a transmission on the bench, grease all up my arm, and I put twenty bucks on a ball game off my phone. Twenty. Felt like nothing.

Pastor Cole: Twenty bucks. Nobody ever starts out saying they're leaving. But you know, that puts me in mind of the prodigal — the boy in Luke fifteen didn't stomp out mad. He just figured he could handle his own portion. Took the good gift and went into a far country. And I wonder, Ray... did it feel like leaving? Or did it feel like Tuesday?

Ray: That's the thing, though — it never felt like leaving. It felt like Tuesday. Every single day. Twenty turned into a couple hundred, then I'm out in the bay with a transmission half apart, phone in my greasy hand, refreshing scores instead of working. Sal — this older mechanic I'd hired — he'd just quietly finish whatever job I walked away from. Then it's two in the morning and I'm in the office on the casino sites, chasing what I lost the night before. And I always had a reason, y'know? Next one's the sure thing, next one fixes it. But what I was actually burning through — that wasn't my money. That was Gina's peace of mind. That was my kids' little savings account. I pawned my own tools, dude. Tools I'd had ten years. Told her I loaned 'em out. Looked her right in the face and said it.

Pastor Cole: Man... telling her that. That's the far country right there, brother — that boy didn't just spend money, he spent himself. Wasted his substance. But you're sitting here. So somewhere in there it turned. Take me to the bottom of it, Ray — if you can. Where were you when it finally broke?

Ray: Yeah... it was like four in the morning. I'd, uh — I'd lost the mortgage money. All of it. Just sitting in my truck in the empty lot, staring at my own shop. And I couldn't fix it. Couldn't out-work it, couldn't out-smart it. Nothing left to bet. I was further gone than I'd ever say out loud. But listen — that's three years back now. Three years. Gina's got her peace back, my kids got their dad, debt's almost gone, shop's honest. And now I get to sit across from the next guy back home who's still hiding it. That's — I mean, that's a gift.

Ray: So — lemme back up to how it turned. That older mechanic, Sal. He'd been quietly inviting me to his little church for months, and I always had somethin' better to do. But after that night in the truck, I went. Just a men's breakfast, eggs and bad coffee, dude. And a few weeks later I'm sitting in that church and it finally landed — Jesus died on that cross for MY sin. Not the cleaned-up version. Mine. And I couldn't earn it back, couldn't out-work it. So I just — I broke. Prayed. Gave Him the whole mess. The chase stopped that night. Wasn't a system, man. It was Him.

Pastor Cole: Oh, brother... that right there. That's the whole thing. That's not you cleaning yourself up — that's the Lord doing what only He can do. Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Paul says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. You couldn't out-work it, Ray. Nobody can. By grace are ye saved through faith — not of works, lest any man should boast. You didn't win. You got carried home.

Pastor Cole: And now you're the guy at the table with the next fella who's still hiding it. Whew. Ray, that's the end of Luke fifteen right there — the boy's rehearsing his speech, and the father don't even let him finish it. He sees him a great way off, and he runs. That's what happened in that truck lot, brother. You were a long way off. He came running. Welcome home, Ray. Thanks for making the trip.