I was once one of those bikers you see riding around without a care.
My week consisted of work as a motorcycle mechanic and then the weekend was just a waste of time and life itself, enmeshed in smoking the odd joint, drinking until I collapsed and fighting anything that I took a dislike to. I don’t really remember too much about the weekends except I seemed to spend a lot of time staring at the inside of a toilet or up at the ceiling, but I do vaguely remember the camaraderie (or so I thought at the time) of my mates.
It was as I know now, a very false sense of belonging to something – wanting to be accepted and worthwhile, a part of the lie.
Later in life I met a different type of biker…
That’s when my world as I knew it changed for ever. After attending the usual weekend biker event and feeling both hung-over and at a loss, I found myself in a marquee run by the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA). As I left, one of the guys gave me a leaflet with the contact details of a guy in Norfolk. A few weeks later and more soul searching, I rang him up. That’s when I met Jingles who was also a biker and yet whilst inside he turned his life around with the help of another outcast called Jesus.
We became great friends and he brought me to Jesus, something I shall never forget. The feeling was wild, exciting and exhilarating all at the same time. For ages I seemed to be higher than when I got drunk or rode at break-neck speeds. I was buzzing so much I couldn’t sleep at night, almost like being a child on Christmas Eve, so full of joy, anticipation and expectation.
Jingles then introduced me to a church (Sprowston Methodist – Rocky Road) where I could grow as a new Christian. It was here that I met my future wife and thanks once again goes to Jingles and his wife Lyn for that, because they invited us both round to theirs for a meal – a blind date as it where. It was instant, we couldn’t stop talking to each other and I remember that we ate very little. 8 weeks after declaring we where a couple, we married and have since been blessed with a beautiful daughter.
Life still has its ups and downs, but with Christ before us as a family, we overcome the obstacles. Those which we find difficult to deal with, Jesus gives us the power to accept and adapt to. If Christ brings you to it, He will see you through it.
My health has progressively deteriorated somewhat over the last 6 years. First I developed Occupational Asthma, and then I lost the hearing to my right ear. Recently I have been suffering from weakness and pain to the muscles, especially those below the waste and have been told that I now have a progressive neurological disease, and just before Christmas (20/12/10) I suffered a Myocardial Infarction (heart attack).
I am now using a combination of aids (wheelchair / sticks) in order for me to get about without too much discomfort, but I still hold dear the fact that my faith in Jesus will uphold me and see me through this; much more than those guys I used to depend upon.
To finish this testimony I would like to give you my favourite quote and verse –
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” – Isaiah 40:29 NIV
Mike (Muzzy) Muscroft.
