📅 Date: 2/24/2025
🎙️ Speaker: Steve Herndon
Finding Strength in Community
Life is full of challenges—some we expect, and others catch us off guard. This week’s Assembly opened with a reminder that we’re not meant to walk through life alone.
We need people who lift us up, pray for us, and help carry the weight of life’s uncertainties. Whether facing a big decision, navigating health struggles, or stepping into new seasons, we need our tribe—our community.
Listen for God’s presence in Steve Herndon’s story—to recognize the moments where God was at work, even in the most difficult seasons.
Steve’s Journey: From Success to Surrender
Steve Herndon’s life story is one of highs and lows, success and struggle, brokenness and redemption.
He built an impressive career, working with major tech companies, traveling internationally, and even sitting next to Bill Gates at a dinner. From the early days of computer programming to helping launch cellular networks, his resume was filled with remarkable achievements.
But behind the career success, a deeper battle was taking place.
For 30 years, alcohol had a hold on his life. What started as casual drinking escalated to the point where he was consuming 12 to 18 beers a day. He was functional, excelling in his work, but as he described it:
“I was satisfying the flesh and starving my soul.”
He knew something had to change.
Breaking Free from Addiction
When his second marriage ended, Steve finally surrendered. He entered a treatment program, and in his words, “I was done.” God worked in his heart, removing the desire for alcohol and opening his eyes to the cost of addiction—not just on his health, but on his relationship with God.
- Addiction doesn’t necessarily put salvation at risk, but it does steal intimacy with God.
- God won’t share space in our hearts with repeated sin.
- When we let go of what’s consuming us, we open ourselves up to a deeper relationship with Him.
His time in recovery became a ministry. As he sat in support groups, he realized people weren’t looking for judgment—they needed hope.
One moment stood out:
A woman shared that her husband had taken her paycheck, their mortgage wasn’t paid, and she had just received an eviction notice. No one in the group knew what to say. Steve simply told her,
“When I have something this heavy on my heart, I have to turn to God, because He’s the only one who can help... I pray for everybody in the circle every night before I go to bed.”
She broke down in tears. Others in the group were stunned. One by one, they came up afterward, asking:
“You really pray for us? Every night?”
It was a reminder of how powerful it is to simply turn someone toward Jesus.
Finding Purpose After Loss
Steve’s journey didn’t end with recovery. Years later, he met and married Amy—a woman whose love for God reflected everything he had prayed for.
After nine years of marriage, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Within six months, she was gone.
Sitting alone in their home, grieving, he prayed:
“God, what do you want me to do?”
The answer came:
- Get involved in church
- Start playing golf again
It seemed simple, but both became ministry opportunities.
One afternoon, Steve and his friend Devin were out playing golf when they met Addison, a man who asked to join them for the round. As they played, Addison made a passing comment about how he felt a higher power had been guiding him through challenges in his life.
At the end of the round, as they shook hands, Devin simply said,
“Just so you know, we’d describe that power in your life as the hand of God.”
Addison went silent. Then he said:
“This morning, my wife told me if I didn’t stop drinking today, she was kicking me out. I haven’t talked to God in 30 years. I went out on my deck and said, ‘God, send me someone to help me get off alcohol.’ And now, here you are.”
Steve walked with Addison through his journey to sobriety. Today, Addison is over 80 days sober, and his marriage has been restored.
Takeaways for Life
Steve’s story reminds us of three important truths:
- If something is keeping you from God, let it go.
- It might be an addiction, a habit, or a mindset.
- Whatever it is, it’s taking up space in your heart that God wants to fill.
- Don’t empty yourself at work and leave nothing for your family.
- Success means nothing if your loved ones only get the tired, grumpy version of you.
- Don’t wait until you’re 68 to follow God’s plan.
- God has work for you to do today.
- The sooner you lean into His purpose, the more you’ll experience the fullness of His plan.
What’s Next?
Reflect on your life.
- What might be keeping you from a deeper relationship with God?
- Are you leaving space in your life for Him to move?
Your story matters. Maybe, like Steve, God is preparing you through your struggles for the work He has ahead.