Road To Redemption
Road To Redemption
Breaking the Chains: Brandon Roberson's Journey from Substance Abuse to Redemption
What happens when the weight of maintaining a perfect image becomes too heavy to bear? On this episode of Road to Redemption, we've got an incredibly powerful conversation with Brandon Roberson, who opens up about his tumultuous journey from the small town of Ripley, Mississippi, through the throes of substance abuse, and his ultimate path to finding redemption. Growing up in the shadow of his father's ministry, Brandon faced significant childhood trauma and instability. His struggle to uphold a Christian image while battling inner demons led to years of substance abuse, beginning in high school and worsening in college, where his identity was heavily tied to sports. As his athletic career ended, an identity crisis ensued, sending him on a downward spiral and through multiple treatment centers. Throughout, Brandon wrestled with pride and ego, unable to seek help from his parents or from God.
Fast forward to today, and Brandon’s story takes a transformative turn. He shares the profound impact that faith in God, community, and Bible study have had on his life and that of his wife. After spending 38 years trying to manage life on his own, Brandon finally surrendered to a personal relationship with Jesus and found strength and peace. Throughout our conversation, Brandon underscores the importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals, engaging with the Bible, and participating in small groups. In a world where social media often dictates our sense of self, Brandon's journey highlights the necessity of placing one’s identity in Christ. To conclude, Brandon offers a heartfelt prayer for anyone struggling to find freedom and peace, urging them to seek solace in God. This episode is a moving testament to the power of faith and community in overcoming life's most challenging moments.
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Welcome to Road to Redemption, a show sharing powerful life testimonies, giving hope to those on their own road to redemption.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Road to Redemption. I'm John Martin, your host, and I'm so excited for our show today. I have a good friend of mine here, Brandon Robertson. Brandon, how are you?
Speaker 3:I'm good, john, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Good good, good good. Well, I'm excited to get you on the show. I know you've got some great stuff to share. First off, give folks that don't know you a little bit of background.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm originally from Ripley, Mississippi. It's a small town in between Tupelo, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Born and raised there. I have two brothers. My mom and dad still live there. I went to college at University of Memphis, where I played football there and lived there for the most part of the last, I'd say, 16 years of my life and before I moved down here. So that's kind of where I'm at currently and I've lived here now going on three years. Oh cool.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, talk to us a little bit about your journey and your relationship with the Lord. Did you grow up a Christian? Are you a Christian now?
Speaker 3:you a Christian now? Yeah, I am a Christian now. My portrayed the image of being a Christian, but not being a Christian, and I did that because I felt like I had to uphold an image on behalf of my father's ministry, and I did a really good job of that. For a long time, I had to uphold an image on behalf of my father's ministry and I did a really good job of that for a long time. You know my childhood. There was a lot of instability there, with parents going through multiple divorces and you know a lot of childhood trauma, and I didn't even know what childhood trauma was. I didn't even know. I thought it was normal life and I really didn't understand it. I was never taught how to cope with life and the only way that I noticed people coping with life was they would go to church on Sunday mornings. They would go to church on Sunday mornings. They would go to church on Sunday night. They'd go to church on Wednesday. They'd pray before every meal and I just thought that was what they did. You know, I thought that's how people cope with life.
Speaker 3:And as I got into middle school, you know, my dad started taking trips to Israel. Um, you know, my dad started taking trips to Israel, to the Holy Land, and you know so, at a young age I was exposed to things that probably most kids are not exposed to. I was able, I was very blessed and fortunate to be able to go to the Holy Land several times. That trip, within itself, is just. You know, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to go there and I was able to see my best friend get saved on the Mount of Beatitudes. And through all this, I was not saved, but I was portraying the image of a Christian and I was saying that I was a Christian and even though I had those encounters around me of people coming to know Christ I had those encounters around me of people coming to know Christ and my father was preaching the word of God to everyone I was lost and, um, as I progressed into high school, you know, substance abuse became something that was a way that I coped with life and you know that was how I was suppressing how I actually felt, because I didn't know how to properly communicate how I felt and I was scared to tell people how I felt because I was afraid I would be judged.
Speaker 3:I was embarrassed, I didn't want people. You know I had to uphold, uphold that image and you can do that for a long time. And then I did that for a long time, um, but as I progressed through high school the substance abuse became, you know, really real and I was able to hide a lot of that due to my athleticism and sports and football and baseball, and got multiple scholarships and so the a lot of the attention on me was not driven, it was all towards sports and and my dad and you know my dad's ministry and how good I was at sports and they didn't really understand the other side of me and all and how good I was at sports and they didn't really understand the other side of me and all the stuff that I was going through. So I progressed on into college. I ended up getting a lot of scholarship offers. When I was in junior college I went to Northeast Community College in Boonville, mississippi. I went to Northeast Community College in Boonville, mississippi, and during that time I was searching. So bad, john, I just was.
Speaker 3:You know I just think back all the time. You know of just how lost I was then. And you know I ended up getting offers from university of alabama. I got my scholarship taken from me for asking for illegal money to scholarships at university, arkansas, and, and you know these are exciting times but at the same time it was torture for me. You know, internally inside myself, and once I got out of college I had no clue, because my identity was in sports. You know my whole identity of who I was trying to uphold, that image was all around sports. But so so when I left sports I had no clue who I was. I had no clue where I was going in life. But there again, everyone looked at my father's ministry, they looked at my past experience in sports and they thought that's who I was and I started drowning. And I started drowning and I started drowning quickly and I ran and ran and ran and I've been through three treatment centers and just really could never be honest with myself. The thought of me asking for help number from my earthly parents. I just couldn't bear myself to come to that more or less like asking god for help. I mean, I, I just couldn't do that. You know, I I just could not break myself down to be vulnerable enough to ask god for help, and so my pride and ego was so at such a high level asking for help. Just, I just wasn't going to do it, and that ultimately led me to rock bottom, which most people that came my situation. They either land there. That's where they typically land. They either land there. That's where they typically land.
Speaker 3:So in 2019, in January of 2019, you know, I had my rock bottom moment, um, where, you know, drinking was really controlling every aspect of my life and I had a moment to where my organs shut down. I was in the hospital I no one was sure if I was going to make it or not and, um, I got out of the hospital, john, and I went back to drinking because that was my identity. That's what I placed my identity in uh, socializing, having fun with people, socially drinking. But it controlled every decision I made and, thankfully, my wife loved me enough that she brought a group of friends to my house that sat down in front of me and told me how much they loved me and they wanted to send me to Texas.
Speaker 3:I went to Austin, texas, really honestly, for my kids. I didn't want to lose my kids and while I was there the first two weeks I think I did everything under the sun to try to get out of the treatment center. I tried to do everything and people wouldn't take my phone calls and I was left. For the first time in my life I was left at a place to where I had nowhere to run. I had nowhere to hide. No one would answer my phone calls. So the manipulation was over for me and I'll never forget.
Speaker 3:This was an 85-acre ranch and they had a walk path of the ranch and you could walk it anytime you wanted to. It was a place of just being able to gather your thoughts, walk around, and I'll never forget walking that 85 acres and I'd do it every day. I was so furious of being there 85 acres, and I do it every day. I was so furious of being there and I remember walking that 85 acres and sitting down one evening and just crying. You know, I finally, for the first time in my life, asked for help. I finally asked for help and I just said, god, you know, if you're real, I want you to help me, I want you to show me the way, because my way is not working. And now I didn't have some miraculous moment at that particular time.
Speaker 1:I will make a commitment to you over the next coming days, and weeks until this day is I finally understood what it meant by.
Speaker 3:I was once blind, but now I can see. It was like this veil came off my eyes. For the first time I could read the Bible and I understood the words, I understood the stories. I never understood that. My whole life I would read the Bible with my dad. It never made sense to me and for the first time things started making you know.
Speaker 3:My eyes were open and the Holy Spirit was living in me and it was a miraculous moment because for the first time in my life I found myself and I had been searching for that my whole life and I think back to all the things that I did to chase my identity, to chase what I was looking for, and it took me 38 years, you know, to finally come to grips with like my identity was in Christ for the first time.
Speaker 3:And over the last five and a half six years it's been an absolute miraculous transformation for me. But it's just me being myself and me telling my story and understanding the pain that you see on other people in this world. I mean, like it is very difficult for people to ask for help. It's very difficult for people to be honest with themselves. It's very difficult for people to be vulnerable, but that's where the secret power is is to be open and honest with God and be vulnerable with God, and I struggle with it every day myself. It's not something that I'm great at, right. I struggle with it every day myself.
Speaker 2:It's not something that I'm great at Right and it's, I think, be vulnerable with others, with God, and being vulnerable with others as you're doing now, as people do on this show. When you do that, you bring, the light of Christ comes out and other people that are listening to this now will relate, will hear the Holy Spirit and get the prompting that there is hope. That's why we do this show to give people hope. I know you're living a life now, brandon, following Christ. I know you're sober. I know you're in recovery programs, things like that. What advice do you have for someone that's listening now that may be in just this vicious cycle? Maybe they've been through multiple rehabs, they have a lot of shame, guilt, maybe they haven't been yet through rehab. But just what do you have for someone listening that really is in this situation?
Speaker 3:I think that the world that we live in currently, john, is people are in the daily grind of life. It's survival. I think people live in a survival mindset and I think if you have someone that may be struggling, it doesn't have to be substance abuse. This can just be in normal life. The most important thing and the most powerful thing that any of those individuals can do is to stop and be honest and and speak to other people that they trust. That can give them great advice. To just be open and honest with other people that they trust. That can give them great advice. To just be open and honest with those people where they're at in their life and ask for help, because so many people are just in the day-to-day grind of paying bills, taking care of kids, trying to make it, and if they just surrender all of that and let God lead them every day, I mean one of the things, john, I do every morning when I'm in the shower.
Speaker 3:I'll say God, I don't know what you have planned for me today. I don't know what doors you'll shut. I don't know what doors you'll shut. I don't know what doors you'll open, but please give me discernment and show me when you're talking to me because I want to listen to you and it's one thing that I have tried my best every day. God, I want to hear you today. Show me when you're talking to me, and I think for anyone that's out there struggling, being vulnerable and being honest and giving it to God is the most powerful thing, but it's the hardest thing to do, because the world we live in is survival.
Speaker 3:People are just trying to survive and they think that they can do it on their own self-will and you can't. And they think that they can do it on their own self-will and you can't. And if they will give that to God, he will give them strength that they've never had before. And I only say that because that's what I did.
Speaker 2:I tried to self-will this thing for 38 years and became exhausted and tired until I was at a point to where I was like hey, God, you're the only person left to talk to which is where he wanted me well and I know I've been, you know, observing and knowing you and your wife, ivers, the last many years, and I see y'all Y'all have been in startup businesses and you've got children, I mean things. So it's not like the stress just went away for you and your wife's life, but you're sober, you're doing well. What are some things y'all are doing today that are allowing you to keep your peace and well, I think for us, the first thing is getting plugged into church.
Speaker 3:You know, I know that may sound cliche, but for for us, we needed to get plugged into other like-minded individuals around us. So it was a support system. It was people that we could be vulnerable with around and have discussions with. That's the first thing. Um, for the first time in our lives, my wife signed us up for a bible study. My initial reaction was I freaked out. I was like why would you do that? We've never done a bible study. I don't even know how to do a bible study. Why would you put us in this situation? And you know what it was like.
Speaker 3:This peace came over us, like you know what, if you feel led to lead this bible study, god will show us the way, he'll open the doors, and I had no idea what to expect. But it was one of the most powerful six weeks of our lives just because we surrendered to what God led my wife to want to do, and I was furious at first. So I say all that to say um, for us it's getting involved in community, our like-minded people, and if you're someone that says, well, I don't go to church or I don't really have that community around me. This is an opportunity for you to surrender and say you know what? I would love to just go this Sunday to my local church and just go there and get plugged in. It's as simple as that.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and, and I know, brandon, you and Iris go to Destiny Worship Center in Panama City Beach. It's a great Christ-centered church. I know anyone listening would be blessed to go there. Destiny Worship Center has multiple campuses across Northwest Florida. We just encourage you, no matter where you are, to go to a Christ-centered, bible-believing church and give it one year of your life. It will change your life. Just give it one year, just go. And we also encourage you to start reading the Bible. That's the first thing.
Speaker 2:Right now, if you're listening to this, pick up a Bible or open the Bible app on your phone and start reading that and we promise you the Lord will speak to you through that. Just start now and then also get into a small group. Destiny has almost every church has small groups that you can do life with. These are people you can be vulnerable with. That will help you. You need other people, other believers in Jesus, to come around you to guide you, especially during these times today. You can't do it alone. Those are kind of the three pillars that we talk about on Road to Redemption. Well, folks, we've been visiting with Brandon Roberts robertson having a great talk. Brandon, is there anything else before we go that you'd like to share?
Speaker 3:I think that, um, for anyone that's listening, life has a tendency to be hard, and I think we're in uncertain times where people aren't sure what to believe.
Speaker 3:In the world we're living in right now, it's, it's, um, it's a very unusual time where social media, um, really rules a lot of the world right now, and comparison can be such a big thing, especially for young kids, uh, and even our age uh, I'm 41 and there's people that are my age that struggle with it as well.
Speaker 3:It's a real thing, and that one of the hardest things that someone can work on is finding their true identity, and I think that so many people put their identity in things in this world that will fail them, and we have to learn to put our identity in Christ, because that's ultimately where the real strength is and where the real power is. But that's very difficult for people to do, because they have to be vulnerable, they have to let their guard down and they have to be honest with themselves. To let their guard down and they have to be honest with themselves, and I think if anyone's listening today, it's is your identity in Christ and are, when you're around, other people? Do they see that your identity is in Christ or is your identity of the world? And for me that's been. The biggest thing for me is, every day, finding my identity in Christ and asking God to open doors for me and shut doors for me and give me discernment every day.
Speaker 2:Amen. Well, it's been a great talk, brandon. I know this is going to help someone to seek Christ. Seek your identity in Christ. No matter what you're going through, the Lord can set you free. Look at Brandon, look at so many people that have been on this show, and there are a lot of resources, a lot of things that he can provide to do that. But just surrender to him right now and we'll just pray that. Lord, heavenly Father, if anyone is listening right now and they're struggling with anything that's keeping them from receiving true freedom, that's keeping them from receiving true freedom. Lord, we just ask that you meet them where they are and you set them free and open a door for them to get help and to receive their redemption, and we just pray this over them in the mighty name of Jesus, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to Road to Redemption, sharing powerful life testimonies, giving hope to those on their own road to redemption. If you have any comments or questions, we would love to connect with you. You can reach out to us at destinyradiolive. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next week on Road to Redemption.