AMAZING STORIES
Randy Hicks: When Death Comes Knocking
By Jewel Taylor
The 700 Club
Original Air Date: December 16, 2010
CBN.com
– "I got high when I was eight years old. Two of my brothers got me out in the garage smoking a bong. That was the first time I ever used marijuana. I’ll never forget it. I loved it."
Randy Hicks grew up one of nine children in rural Illinois with little parental supervision.
"My father was an alcoholic," Randy tells The 700 Club. "He ran moonshine. Mom held it together. My mother was a firm believer in Jesus Christ. She was a praying mom."
Randy’s brothers hid “the goods” in the garden out back, in their school bags or even under the mattresses.
"One time I found some white powder in there. It was cocaine. I didn’t know what it was and I touched it. It numbed my lips. I was like, 'Wow, that’s some strange stuff.' One day I just happened to watch my brother sniff it and I sniffed some too. I got to high school. I was a freshman. People were selling it to make money. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was selling big time."
After graduation, Randy joined the military.
"I ended up being in a tanker, an armor crewman, and they sent me to Fort Irwin, California. Well, up there, crystal meth was big. When I got up there, I got hooked up with the wrong people. I started drinking heavier, and then I really started going on a binge with crystal meth. I was so addicted, it was like I couldn’t live without it. I breathed it from the time I got up in the morning to the time I went to bed. I started selling stuff to get it. Then eventually they sent me to rehab. They released me from the military. I was like, 'Man, I had this great opportunity to turn my life around. Why did I go back to doing the drugs?'"
But it only got worse… Randy spent a year in jail for robbing a gas station. He was so high, he doesn’t even remember holding a gun to the clerk’s head. When he got out of jail, he overdosed. He was only 27.
"They pulled the white sheet up on me. They said, 'He’s done.' They called my family in. When I woke up, it was the most frightening moment, because I looked down and I’m looking at a white sheet."
Doctors discovered Randy was still alive. After running numerous tests, he was released. But, even that near death experience wasn’t enough to scare him straight.
He married, but the alcohol and drug use continued, eventually destroying the relationship. In 1997, his wife left him with their two young children.
"When I had my kids, I was still drinking. I was smoking weed. I still did a little coke. Not like I used to, but I was still doing it, yes. The moment that changed that, all of a sudden, my body collapsed to the ground. I felt something physically dragging me out of my body. I looked up, and I saw death. I saw hell in his eyes. It had these huge horns. It curled around like a ram. Death just filled the room.
"It scared me. I could physically feel my spiritual man separating from my flesh. I didn’t feel no pain, but I felt it leaving, trembling in fear. Immediately I fell on my face, and I cried out, 'Jesus, forgive me of my sins. God, help me with my addictions. Take it all away. Don’t let me go to hell. Please.' I was begging. I was crying. I did everything I knew.
"Suddenly, just out of nowhwere, there was this perfect peace filled the room. It was so peaceful. As soon as I looked at the door, my door opened. I saw this long, white, glowing robe. There was just no white in this world you can describe it. I knew without a doubt that the moment I cried out for Jesus, that God had showed up and saved me.
"Man, I just wanted to know God. I wanted to know Jesus. I wanted to know this One, when I knew without a doubt Hell came for me."
Immediately, Randy’s craving for drugs and alcohol was replaced with a hunger and thirst for Jesus.
"I travel and share what God brought me from, what I went through, what it will do to you, and how Christ is the answer. When you call on that name Jesus, He is there right there. He is ready to receive you, to forgive you of all your sins, and to write your name in the Book of Life. He’s more than happy to call you His own and give you a brand new start. Immediately."
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