God Used COVID to Turn My Life Around

As Dave Collins looks back over the years the deadly COVID pandemic held the world hostage, he sees much personal loss, but he also testifies about an unseen and unexpected benefit. Years of temptation to abuse alcohol and gambling caught up with him when he refinanced his home to pay enormous debts. There was also abuse of prescription drugs (“though nothing illegal,” he insists). Those setbacks created “a perfect storm” of disastrous consequences for him.

“I lost my job, my house, and my independence,” Dave admits. “I was a hot mess.”

Being at rock bottom caused him to reach up for help. He finally checked into the program at the Lawton Corps of The Salvation Army in Oklahoma. Walking through the front door was a turning point, and Dave is determined he will never go back to the way things were.

In fact, his life now has never been better, and he has big plans for his life of service in the cause of Christ.

Prior to the pandemic, Dave had a profitable construction business, but he also struggled with gambling and alcohol abuse. “And on top of that, I had a serious case of cataracts,” he explains. “When COVID hit, [my construction] contracts dropped off. But, like always, my pride convinced me that I can wait anything out and emerge on the other side of difficulties. I had a lot of money in savings, and I figured that money would carry me and my business after the pandemic was over. The money only lasted nine months.

“Then I had the bright idea to mortgage my house,” he continues, “but with no business coming in, and with mounting gambling debts and my drinking, I lost my company, my house, and was even losing my eyesight because of the cataracts.”

Dave was at the end of his rope.

“I was done. I was ready to leave this world. But before I did anything else, I only wanted to go to Texas to see my son one last time. Thanks be to God; He had another plan for me!”

Staying at the Army’s shelter operated by the Lawton Corps, Dave spent his first Sunday worship service on the back row, just wanting to get the morning attendance requirement over with.

“At one point during the meeting, as clear as day, I felt God speaking to me, saying, ‘Now do you understand what I’ve done?’”

Dave suddenly realized that he had to lose everything so that his focus could come to rest solely on God.

“Before I committed my life to Christ, the only things I cared about were worldly. Money, booze, women. If I gave any thought to God at all, it was a distant second to what I really held dear.”

Prior to COVID, Dave would do things and then maybe pray about it later. Now, with Christ in control of his life, that practice is turned on its head. Dave prays about things, and then he carries them out if the Lord approves.

“If He says ‘No,’ that’s it — it isn’t going to happen!”

One verse of scripture jumped out in front of Dave that first Sunday at the Lawton Corps; Jeremiah 29:11 became his North Star. In fact, in the years since his total commitment to Christ, that verse has come up repeatedly as a reminder of who is now in charge of Dave’s life.

“It keeps me going,” Dave confesses. “When things do begin to go wrong, the Holy Spirit brings that verse again before me, and I’m able to make sense of everything. It’s not about what the world offers; it is about His plans for me.”

“Jeremiah 29:11” is imprinted on a bracelet he wears, and the entire verse is displayed on the leather cover of his Bible.

“I had to be humbled,” Dave says, referring to his life before committing to Christ. “Once I started following Him, I experienced such happiness. I don’t want for food, money, a place to sleep, anything like that. He treats me like a son. And I am.”

Dave comments that he never really felt that way with his own parents. “I always felt like I owed them something. But now that I’m a child of God, the only thing I owe Him is my love and obedience. And that’s good enough for me!”

Dave’s progression as a seasoned Salvationist began simply: ringing the bell at a kettle location that first Christmas. Becoming an employee, he first worked in the thrift store and later at the corps shelter. In time, he was enrolled as a soldier and now wears his uniform proudly.

“But even as a soldier of the corps, and coming whenever the doors were open, I felt I needed to do more,” Dave shares. That’s why he became the assistant corps sergeant major (ACSM) and began teaching a Bible class.

“Want to know what verse I taught that first night? Jeremiah 29:11,” he says, laughing.

He now even occasionally preaches when his corps officers are away.

“Six years ago, to look at me, you would not have thought, ‘This man is going to be preaching and helping others,’” he says, marveling at what God has done in his life.

In yet further evidence of God’s provision, the Army connected with another agency to provide eye surgery on his cataracts. But just days before he was to be admitted, Dave came down with the Coronavirus. Rescheduling his surgery set him back for months. But after he recovered, an opening came up, and the surgery successfully restored his failing eyesight.

“None of this is luck,” Dave insists. “It’s all about God. He has me here for a reason, and His purpose for me is ministry!”