Ifirst “met” Bette Hammang when she emailed me about one of
my books a couple of years ago. She told me of her long battle
with drug addiction, and her victory through Jesus Christ.
Because I’d been doing prison ministry and had become close to
several people with addictions, I was extremely interested in her
story. She told me she had written a book and asked me to read it.
I don't usually read manuscripts from new writers because I get
so many requests and I have so little time. My own writing schedule
keeps me under the gun most of the time. However, I took a personal
interest in her story because I’d worked with so many who seemed
to be fighting a never-ending battle with addictions, and I
desperately wanted to see how she had been delivered. She sent me
the book in manuscript form, and I was struck by her strong sense of
humor. The book made me laugh and cry as I saw the struggle of this
woman who had so much potential, yet was completely in bondage
to the drugs that had taken her over. She tells of how she felt
compelled to spend her days digging (literally, with a shovel),
looking for buried treasures that she pulled out of the dirt and
dragged home. The thought of her junk collection was quite
amusing, though it sadly illustrated how Satan had buried her own
potential, hopes and dreams, and those her parents had for her, and
replaced them with his version of treasures—things that were filthy
and useless and seemed like prizes to her.
This is what addiction does. It turns our passions into dangerous
obsessions, our potential into a hopeless waste, and our hopes and
dreams into buried junk. But praise God, He doesn't leave them there. When that bondage took Bette to places she didn't want to go,
she was finally able to stop digging in the dirt and start digging
through God's Word. God was faithful to keep His promise that,
“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your
heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Bette demonstrates that Christ delivers, that He changes lives,
and that He is faithful to hold you when you’ve truly surrendered to
Him. I’ve maintained an email relationship since that time, and her
love for the Lord has blessed me. Her changed life and her new
attitude are evidence that Christ has the key to unlock the gates of
bondage. He is the One who restores the future and recreates
dreams.
In Luke 4, Jesus said that He was sent to proclaim release to the
captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to set free those who are
oppressed. Bette was one of those captives. She was blind but now
she sees. She was oppressed and in bondage, and He set her free.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the
Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Terri Blackstock

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