“…if you think you are standing firm, BE CAREFUL that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And GOD IS FAITHFUL; HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN BEAR. But when you are tempted, HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OUT so that you can endure it.” (1 Corin. 10:12-13) WILL, this was the first scripture I committed to memory. I was a 29 year old alcoholic, drug addicted and all the sins that go with that kind of lifestyle. Strangely enough, I was also a very good design engineering. A young Christian man (Tim) worked with me, building the circuits I would design and if I didn’t design something correctly, he would always have a good fix for me. So, I learned over the year that we worked together that he was always right in what he did for me. Well, one Saturday, we were putting the finishing touches on the project, I would load up my large pipe filled with hallucinogenic marijuana and walk 5 miles to work. When I arrived Tim began telling me about a close friend who had been demon possessed and how God delivered him. I believed Tim because the Lord set me up to trust him and the Lord began to deal with me so, on Wednesday, May 17th 1972, as I entered my “private restroom” closed the door and then “someone” put their arms around me and said “Bill, I love you!” Such powerful conviction flooded over me and I dropped to my knees (the toilet was my altar) and said “I am so sorry!!!” because that’s what I felt and I did not know how to pray.
A very large burden was lifted off of me and I just began to cry (not something a tough guy does) thanking the Lord, not really knowing what happened. I found Tim and tried to explain what happened and he said he would pray for me. It was not long until I was completely “sold out” to the Lord. It’s been an awesome 47 year journey. Seventeen years of pastoring in Washington State, hired at COGOP International Offices to computerize HQ. Then worked at Cleveland High School teaching engineering classes and being Chaplain for the Football Team for 15 years where we were blessed to see a little over 400 kids give their hearts to the Lord.
Then the devil was angry and tried to kill me, I had a severe stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, brain tumor, spent 4 months in Siskin Hospital, having no idea who or where I was. Came home and tried to resume my daily devotions but I didn’t know how to turn on my computer. Slowly I recovered because the Lord taught me to pray again. One very important lesson I learned from all of this is the most powerful weapon we have is PRAYER!!! This is the reason I love to share God’s powerful and wonderful Word, WILL. I am so blessed to help anyway I can…
-Bill Stockham