Jason Gottwals knows what rock bottom looks like. For him, it looked like a sewage ditch in Daytona Beach, Fla. It was there, after struggling with alcoholism for years, that Jason opened his heart to Christ and asked for help. To this day, Jason doesn’t know where the words came from. He didn’t grow up with a religious foundation and had even almost not married his wife over an argument about having a religious ceremony for their wedding.

But at that moment, the spirit moved Jason and he asked for help. He had tried to fight this losing battle by himself for too long. The response he got from God was deafening. In an instant, he stood up sober and took a bus back to his car. He drove all night back home, not arriving until 3 a.m. When he got home, he took a shower fully clothed and cried. That was Jason’s turning point.

Jason’s story in this month’s interview with Pastor Jeff is incredible, and it speaks to some common themes that so many men struggle with. Here are some things to reflect upon as you watch.

1. We can’t win our battles in a spiritual vacuum. We can certainly have allies in our friends and family, but the toughest battles we will fight day-in and day-out will be the ones where we need God’s help. And not just God’s help, but his unending grace and forgiveness.
2. Lean into your faith journey. Jason heard God speak to him on that fateful night in Florida, but he didn’t let that be the end of his relationship with God. He leaned into his faith journey and found a church community that supported him in his steps forward. If we’re not leaning into our faith journey then we’re moving backwards. It doesn’t have to be big strides forward every day, but it also can’t be stagnant.
3. Listen to God, even when it seems like it’s a whisper. As you listen to Jason’s story, you may pick up on times when his alcoholism had him flirting with disaster in both his marriage and his work. The most destructive lie we can believe is that because we didn’t implode during a moment like that, there’s not a problem. But as C.S. Lewis’ Demon Uncle Screwtape said in The Screwtape Letters, “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality, our best is done by keeping things out.”

Jason’s story is one of struggle, redemption, courage, and grace. It takes a lot of courage for a man to admit his faults. For that, he has our respect. It takes an even stronger man to share those faults with the world. For that, he has our admiration.