Every day thousands of people pass by us. Who knows what they think ... Everyone tries to cope with his own problems, but sometimes he gets entangled in them more and more. The same was true of Roman Starytsky's life. He did not know what he was living for, he thought his life was pointless and empty. He was looking for a meaning in life ...
Apparently, dissatisfaction with life has begun in his early childhood. He was the youngest son of 5 children. His mother worked at a collective farm, so she often took her little son with her to the fields. His father worked as a train conductor and was often away from home. He would always come home drunk. As Roman looked at his drunk father, he did not want to become the same. But he didn’t have any better example.
After graduation from high school, the boy, like most of his friends, entered the army service. Then he began to work and became independent person. But this did not bring him satisfaction. Roman began to suppress his internal pain with alcohol and parties. It seemed to him that for a moment he could forget about his painful thoughts. As Roman grew older, he became more introspective and tried to stay away from his friends. Feeling lonely, he began to drink. The more he drank, the more addicted he became. He needed money for alcohol. The situation got so bad that he was willing to beg for money on his knees just to get a glass of vodka. "It seemed to me that I would become insane if I didn’t get a drink," Roman says.
He even began to hide any sharp objects, because sometimes he caught himself having thoughts of hitting another person. In despair, Roman began to pray to God asking him for deliverance from his addiction. God did answered his prayers and Roman lost craving for alcohol. But he continued to live a life without meaning and without God.
One day he was offered to get into yoga. He became very interested, because it was something new and unusual. Although Roman was attracted to yoga, this turned him even more away from God. Thus, after alcohol addiction, he began to have another problem: suicidal and violent thoughts. He wanted to kill himself or kill other people. These thoughts haunted him all the time. He was scared of himself. "I felt that some power forces me to do evil. I did not want to harm someone else and I thought that it would be better if I kill myself, "- Roman recalls.
This turmoil lasted for three days. The poor man did not know who he should talk to: if he asked to medical help, they would put him into a psychiatric hospital. Police said that they couldn’t do anything to help him unless he commits a crime.
He grabbed a knife and was ready to hit himself in the heart. Then he remembered the words of one woman, who once told him about God: "Roman, there is God, who loves you! Turn to Him!"
Roman Staritsky said. He remembered that his friend’s daughter was attending a Christian church. They met and after a conversation with him, she led him in a prayer of repentance.
After that, Roman began to force himself to read the Word of God, because his suicidal thoughts would return periodically, but they were not as frequent as before. After one month God completely delivered Roman from these evil thoughts. Seeing God’s answer, Roman came to the church and decided to serve God wholeheartedly.
- Roman says happily.
He wanted to do something good for the Lord. In order to express his gratefulness to God, Roman began to help in the church, then in a small group and eventually he became a pastor of a local church.
Roman Staritsky tells with a smile.