I was preoccupied with studying when my secretary called to me. She said a young man wanted to talk to the “priest.” I had been trying to clear my desk so that I could go home and spend some time with my family, but I invited him to come into my office. He wanted the door closed. He cautiously scrutinized my office and asked, “Will you keep our conversation confidential?”
I assured him that I would. He immediately had my attention! I wondered what the next few minutes would bring. His presence distressed me. He was in obvious tension and struggle. He told me his name was Jerry Zilac. He told me his pregnant wife was sitting in the car. She was expecting twins in a couple of weeks, and he did not know what to do. He pleadingly asked, “Can you help me?”
The young man was obviously in great distress. I assured him that I would try to help. He began telling me an amazing story of his last two years. He had been in the military, and his wife was having emotional and mental difficulties. She was pregnant and about to deliver their first child. He applied for a medical discharge from the army. Military paperwork moved much slower than her pregnancy. Eventually he felt that neither he nor his wife could take the pressure any longer. In despair he just walked off the base to go help his wife in this crucial time. He chose to leave the army, to go AWOL — Absent With Out Leave!
He gently assisted his wife through the birth of the child but had to be careful where they went so that the Army would not find him and arrest him for being AWOL. He then explained how over the past two years they had crisscrossed the country working under assumed names and fictitious Social Security numbers. I now began to wonder if his name really was “Jerry” — or if that were just another assumed name. He told how they lived much of the time in their car. He explained how renting an apartment was quite difficult, because he feared the army would find him.
Now he was facing another major trauma! He had come to me, a total stranger, for some advice. What should he do? His wife was again on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was confident that she would need hospitalization for the birth of twins. He was also confident that she could not make it without him present to give her emotional support. They could not contact their family. One set of parents had rejected them, and the other would probably turn them in to the army. He was tired of running. They desperately needed money. He needed a job. They needed an apartment. Most resources were closed to them because of his being AWOL. To turn himself in would mean prison! His wife was having plenty of difficulty taking care of a two-year- old. The thought of two new babies was almost enough to land her in a psychiatric ward. But to continue to remain AWOL was becoming more and more difficult.
What should he do? Turning himself into the army meant inevitable prison time. If his wife entered a mental ward, what would happen to his children? And she desperately needed hospitalization for the birth of the twins.
I tried to enter into the emotional trauma of his situation. That was difficult. I had never been in such a complicated situation. I explained to Jerry the importance of having a clear conscience and that eventually he would have to deal with his choice to leave the army without permission. He seemed to have the various alternatives correctly analyzed. What would God want him to do? I could not tell him what to do. He had to make that decision himself. But I could pray for him. I urged him to turn his life over to the Lord Jesus Christ. That was his greatest need. He was very open to the gospel and prayed and invited the Lord Jesus Christ into his life.
As he left, I felt awfully bewildered. No alternative was good for him. He was certainly between the proverbial “rock and a hard spot.” No choice in his life seemed to be very attractive. I had explained that God had power to enable him to endure prison. I explained that God had grace and power for his wife not to have a nervous breakdown. I explained that God had the ability to make the military look sympathetically upon his situation. I knew God had the ability to give him the peace of heart that he needed so intensely and the wisdom and guidance to make it through this maze of confusion. How my soul agonized for this young man. I realized I would probably never see him again. His name was probably fictitious so I would never be able to find him. He had declined my request for a mailing address.
Many of us have been or are presently facing the kind of life situation this man was facing. What can a person do? It is very easy to give simplistic answers. But, I must ask myself, “Is this the kind of answer I would want someone to tell me if I were in that situation?” Sometimes Christians give rather weak answers to complicated problems. However, the Bible provides valuable principles that can give us strong courage to face life’s most difficult situations.
I don’t know if you can imagine my amazement when a few weeks after talking to Jerry Zilac, he walked into my office. His countenance was totally different! The twins were born and were quite healthy. His wife was doing superbly. And the army? They did not comprehend his inquiry. Their records showed he had received a medical discharge the day after he had walked off the military base. They had never considered him AWOL.
Yes, he had created much of his own messy maze. Yet, when he chose to believe that Jesus Christ would make a way out, he discovered freedom. No more fear of being caught. No need for fictitious names and Social Security numbers. No need for fear when renting a place to live.
Wherever you are in life’s mazes, I urge you to choose to believe Christ can make a way out for you! Choose to let him guide you. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart. He is absolutely trustworthy!