Who is David Azbell

I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I have 5 Children and 6 grandchildren. I have been married and divorced 4 times. I have been convicted of a crime, tried to commit suicide, have lost several family members due to death, including my Dad and sister, been in jail, drank heavily and did drugs. I hope that through my story you will be able to find that God can change your life. Through Jesus Christ you can be made a new person. You can be washed clean and a new life will be yours.

I was raised in a stable home with a Mother and Father who worked hard and loved their family. My grandmother and grandfather on my Father's side were Christians who helped teach us right from wrong and usually taught from the Bible. We went to Sunday School as children and I learned a lot of the Bible. I even taught Children's Church with my grandmother on my Mother's side of the family. I did the typical teenage boy things like sports and hanging out with friends. I have a great family. I have come to realize that I have them to thank for so much that I have in my life. Just like anyone else, along the way, I have made some good choices and some poor choices.

My poor choices led me down a very dark and desserted road ALONE. The choices I made finally brought me to a place where I realized I was an empty shell of a man just wandering in the wilderness. I didn't know where I was going to end up. Unfortunately, I lost everything before I realized this.

In March of 1998 I was terminated from a good job. I was eventually charged with theft by that company. I worked here and there for a few months but couldn't seem to keep anything steady. My fiancee', at the time, suggested that we move to Tennessee where her sister and brother-in-law lived. I made the choice at that time to pack up and leave my children, my family and my home behind and go to Tennessee. This would turn out to be my final good-bye to my Dad. He passed away while I was living there. It was a hard choice to make and proved to be even harder as the months went by.

While living in Tennessee with her family, we started attending church with her Aunt and Uncle and others in the family. I had been on my job a few months, things were going well, I was advancing in the company and was sure that things had turned around for me and that the worst was over. In December of 1998 I was arrested on a fugitive warrant from Arizona. The judge in Tennessee set my bond at $25.000. This meant that I would need to find someone willing to put up $2,500 to a bondsman to post my bond. I had just started to have a little faith but not complete faith. DeeDee, my fiancee's Aunt, talked to me and offered prayer for me while I was in jail. We prayed that God would provide and within a couple of days God provided the bond and I was released from jail. I returned to work and got a promotion. I was being blessed by God but didn't take the time to thank Him. I still went to church, still prayed and still tried to do what I thought He wanted me to do.

Then on January 17. 1999, as I was getting ready for work, I received a phone call from my family in Phoenix. They called to tell me that my Dad had just had a heart attack and had passed away. I remember sitting there on the couch in so much pain and feeling numb. I had no money saved to be able to go home for the funeral. So, I did what I thought I was suppose to do, I prayed a little and then called work to let them know that I would not be coming to work that day. I received another blessing. When I called into work, my employer allowed me to get an advance on my check so that I would have the money to go to the funeral in Arizona. We left the next morning to fly back home. We had only enough money for my fiancee' and I to get to Arizona, but not back to Tennessee. We were told to have faith and that it would be taken care of and off we went. We were in Arizona for a week and had no idea how we were going to get back to Tennessee. We prayed, others prayed and we were provided the money to return. Again, God, through my family provided for us. Did I thank Him? No.

In March of 1999, I was arrested on a warrant once again from Arizona. I sat in jail in Tennessee for about three weeks before they finally came to get me and transport me back to Arizona. I was told that the bond was to going to be $80.000 but Arizona set my bail at $1,600. I prayed and I cried out to God. My Mother posted the bond so I could be released. It took until March of 2000 for that legal battle to be over and life began again. And again, no thanks went to God. On March 31, 2000, my grandmother passed away. And again, I prayed, read the Bible and asked questions. I just never seemed to get the right answers.

In August of 2000, I lost my job. I lost my apartment and I lost my fiancee. I lost everything. It felt like it was the final straw that broke me. So, I started to read the Bible again and I started to pray more and started asking for God's guidance. But I still felt alone and empty. I felt like my soul had passed and left my shell here wandering in the wilderness. Then I heard a sermon about the children of God in the wilderness and how they wandered for forty years. I also came across a Scripture in the Bible (Luke 18:27) "Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." I realized that even though I could not deal with my problems, God could.

It says in Revelation 1:8, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." I started to find some real answers. I stood on faith and asked God to guide me. I decided to put my past in God's hands and stand on faith that He will do what is right for me. One day, as I was reading the 22nd Psalm, I realized that God was not so far away. He had not desserted me but it was I who had desserted Him. It says in Psalm 22:6, "I am merely a worm, far less than human, And I am hated and rejected by people everywhere." It was then that I realized that I had to come back to God and all His promises. God doesn't break promises and I ended up where I was because of the choices I made. I had desserted Him. But what a wonderful God He is! He is a God that loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us. I knew all I had to do was drop to my knees and confess to God my sins and He would forgive. He was standing there with His arms opened wide waiting for me. What a wonderful God! When all around me, man would not forgive and give me a second chance, God was waiting to do it. I am slowly learning how to hear God and listen to Him.

I wish that was the happy ending but there were still lessons to be learned. In July of 2002, my probation was revoked and I was made to spend four months in jail. I was on the work release program and was able to leave the jail for 12 hours per day to go to work. My oldest daughter, who has stuck by me and loved me unconditionally, and other friends helped provide transportation. The nights were the hardest. I lived in a tent with other men who were on the work release program. It was hot and miserable. The thoughts that go through your mind and the conditions left me to wonder where God was. If you missed dinner, you went hungry. There was no place to be by yourself.

In February of 2003 my family said good-bye to my Mother's oldest brother. A week later we found out that my Mother's youngest brother had a mass removed from his brain. He eventually died in October. Then in June of 2003 my oldest sister was taken tragically from us in a head on collision. It was one of the hardest events in my life that I had to deal with because I couldn't understand how God could take someone like her and leave me. Then a month later I had the opportunity to give the funeral for my Dad's youngest brother. And finally, as I mentioned earlier, my Mother's youngest brother was put to rest in October. Wasn't that enough? I kept asking God but through it all He was still with me and in February of 2004 my Grandfather on my Dad's side lost his fight with Alzheimer's. Although he had been a very strong, Christian influence in my life, I miss him. Although these events were hard I know that God saved me and that He can save you.

So you see no matter where you are today. No matter what choices you have made in your journey. No matter how far away you are from God, He is there waiting at the door for you to open it. He has not desserted you. He loves you and He has great things planned for you. All you have to do is take the step. Remember the Lord is there waiting with open arms. And He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son.

Pastor David Azbell