April 17, 2026 • 27 mins
You can stand under bright lights, hear thunderous applause, and still walk back into a silence that hurts. That’s where Ron Myers starts this conversation with Robert Collier, a lifelong musician and businessman whose story cuts straight into the hidden places most of us try to manage alone: identity, regret, and the ache to be known.
Robert was adopted, carried three different names before age four, and was raised in Biloxi by an older couple who taught him grit, responsibility, and the power of community. He opens up about a moment that could have wrecked him a teacher’s blunt prediction that he would “make a great inmate” and how that label became fuel for a complete turnaround. From the weight of shame to the discipline of rebuilding, Robert shows what resilience looks like when it’s anchored in faith and lived out through action.
We also talk about loneliness after success, why people numb pain with alcohol and drugs, and how spiritual growth often happens offstage in quiet, honest moments. Robert shares lessons on forgiveness and self-forgiveness, responding to accusations without losing your peace, and why you can go straight to God when life is upside down. Ron closes with clear takeaways on overcoming labels, healing in the quiet, and choosing purpose over regret.
If you’ve been wrestling with identity, faith, mental health, or the feeling that your past has the final word, listen through to the prayers at the end. Subscribe for more real stories, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review with the line that hit you the hardest.
Thank you for listening! Please help us by sharing this podcast with your friends and telling someone about what Jesus has done for you. If you would like to share your story, visit our website https://thepromoter.org/
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Announcer (00:01):
It's time now to get the hell out of your life.
A weekly broadcast with realpeople, sharing real struggles,
and offering real hope.
Today's show will encourage,inspire, and empower you to face
life's challenges with a boldconfidence and renewed hope.
Now let's join our host, RonMyers, the promoter.
Ron Meyers (00:21):
You can stand on a stage, hear the applause, feel
the lights on your face, andstill walk back to a room that
feels painfully silent.
Hello, my friends.
I'm Ron Myers, and it is sogood to be with you today.
This show is called Get theHell Out of Your Life: Real
Stories, Real Struggles, andReal Hope.
(00:41):
Today's conversation goesbeyond the spotlight, in the
places most people try to hide.
Because, friend, the loudestbattles in life, they don't
happen in front of people.
They happen behind closed doorsin the quiet.
Where regret whispers, angerjustifies itself, and faith gets
(01:03):
tested for real.
My guest today, Robert Collier,knows what it feels like to
carry questions about identityfrom the very beginning.
He was adopted, he had threedifferent names before the age
of four, and was raised by anolder couple who gave him
something the world can't fakegrit, wisdom, and community.
(01:25):
But life didn't go easy forRobert.
A teacher once looked him inthe eye and said, You'll make a
great inmate.
But for some people thatbecomes a label.
But for Robert, it became aturning point.
Today's story is a story aboutidentity, healing, and choosing
who you become when life triesto define you.
(01:48):
So let's get into today'sstory.
Robert, do you remember wherewe first met?
Robert Collier (01:53):
It was back in the 80s, mid to late 80s, and
you were putting on a sh sometype of marketplace thing down
at the old Gulfport Pavilion.
Yeah, right.
Rice Pavilion.
Right.
And I forgot what it was named.
Anyway, so you had come overand you had we were going to do
it, and and it it we kind ofthrew the band together at that
time, and we went and we wereperforming, and you came out,
(02:14):
and I remember saying, Who isthis lightning bug?
Because you you you were allover the place.
And I remember talking to youand we shook hands and we went
ahead and we had just a smallamount of time to talk.
But I remember walking away andone of the band members looked
at me and uh said, you know, whois that?
I said, uh his name is Ron.
I said, but I got a feelingwe're gonna see a lot of him in
(02:36):
the future.
You have to have drive.
You have to have belief inyourself.
Never seen you again until Isaw you on TV during your
Christmas down at the Coliseum.
And I went, that's him.
Well, you played for me, didn'tyou, at some of the festivals?
Your band called Meet thePress.
Right, right.
That was when it was rock, Meetthe Press.
And again, every time uh that Igot to see you, we didn't get
to see uh talk a lot because youwere Yep, I was always you were
(02:59):
always running around.
But it was one of those thingsthat you have to have, and I try
in my own life, you have tohave self-worth, you have to
have self-drive, you have topush yourself to say, I'm going
over any obstacle that comes myway.
And you went from doing that todoing those Christmas things,
and I'm just like, okay.
And then obviouslyChristianity.
(03:21):
And it's been a just anabsolute metamorphosis, and I
can look back now when I seeyour name, and I'm going, I'm
not going to say I knew that,but I had a feeling back in the
mid-80s we would be here in RonMeyer's name again.
Ron Meyers (03:32):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: When I reached out to you to
have a visit with you and be apart of my show, talk about
stories of faith.
There's not a lot of people Iknow that knew me back to 30, 35
years ago, but both of us,we've grown, we've got wiser.
And tell us a little bit aboutyou, Robert.
I was born at Howard Memorial.
Howard Memorial Hospital was onthe beach down there right now
(03:53):
where my mother gave me up foradoption.
And from till I was four yearsold, I had three different
names.
Now, here's the thing.
I could very easily have beenangered at her and whatever, but
as I got older, I didn't knowwhat her situation was.
How can I judge her for givingme up at that time without any
explanation?
I didn't know her situation.
(04:14):
And now that I have childrenand grandchildren, I sometimes
sorry that I didn't get to knowher better, you know.
But anyway, I was raised on theeast end of Biloxi by an
elderly couple, third-gradeeducated people who were the
smartest people I've ever met inmy life because they had common
sense and they applied it.
And we had a small cafe downthere, a neighborhood cafe, and
everybody in the neighborhoodwas my family.
(04:35):
Everybody in the neighborhood,we all went down there, and I
remember that my parents, theywould do spaghetti drives and
cake drives to build St.
Michael Church on the on thebeach.
And once that church was built,and this is the amazing thing,
you don't have to have amaster's degree or a PhD.
These people on the east end ofBiloxi, who I cherish, were not
(04:56):
highly educated.
They had some, but they weren'thighly educated, but they were
educated enough and understandthat hard work and dedication,
when that building was builtdown there, and it's still down
there, the shell-looking uh St.
Michael's, it was paid for.
There was no loans.
And I learned that hard workand dedication from them.
And so it went on as life wenton.
(05:16):
I was not a good student.
I am today, can tell you veryhonestly, I can't tell you an
adjective from an adverb.
But as the last day I was atroubled child and I'd got in a
lot of trouble, and I used toweigh 320 pounds.
And I was got a lot of troubleback in high school.
My last day of high school, lavery last day we were walking
out, and they were giving me mydiploma, and that's the God's
(05:37):
honest truth, they were givingme my diploma.
I had a teacher stop me in thehallway and she looked at me,
she said, Mr.
Collier, you're gonna make agreat inmate one day.
Because I and wait a minute,and I didn't get mad at her, and
I wouldn't go home and tell mymom because my mom would have
agreed with her, because I wasin a lot of trouble as a kid.
But it drove me.
And I went to work for afinance company as a collector
right here in Gulfport, didn'tknow what I was doing.
(05:59):
Fifteen years later, I openedmy own company and I had the
mortgage to that woman's house,to my to my teacher's house.
Now, I had lost all my weight.
I was back down to about I wasdown to about 175, 80 pounds,
and I had a nice suit on.
I went to her house and Iknocked on the front door, and
I'm not gonna say her name, butI knocked on the front door, I
said, ma'am.
She said, Yeah, I said, I'mRobert Collier.
I said, I I have owned acompany now that has the
(06:21):
mortgage to your house.
And she looked at me veryinquisitively.
She went, Collier, Collier.
And I went, the inmate.
And she she came out and huggedme.
And I said, And I said, Thankyou.
I said, Thank you for it was awake-up call.
And here's another thing isthat it was her words, but it
was God's pushing and saying, itwas it was God's doing
(06:41):
something that I'll that thatI'll give to you reference later
on.
That God did something to methat I wound up doing to try to
help other kids.
And it wasn't one of thosethings to where it was a
lightning bolt.
It was a subtle push.
And so I went from there andwound up in the finance
business, went back into music.
I was doing both of them.
I was I was trying to be sobusy with the finance company
(07:03):
and playing music.
I was saying so busy, and Ithought I was trying to make all
this money, but then I realizedI didn't want to slow down to
realize how miserable I was.
I didn't want to stop on acouch and sit there and realize
I'm all alone.
I have no family.
And that's the reason whyalcohol and drugs are so
prevalent.
People, they're not bad people,these are not bad people.
These are people that got lost,they got lonely.
(07:25):
They they they didn'tunderstand that they didn't have
to have a needle or drink, thatthey just needed to back up a
second.
And nowhere in the Bible doesit say you have to go to a
building to get God.
Amen.
Where I found God is on theroad.
When I was driving from show toshow in music, I'd be by myself
and I'd put on a some Christianshow and then I'd turn it off.
(07:48):
And for the next couple ofhours, I would just think about
my life and say, what happensnow?
I'm really not happy.
You know, and I tried, and Iwas in Catholicism for 27 years,
and God, it's a beautiful,wonderful religion.
I have nothing bad to say aboutit.
It just wasn't for me.
I could not find that innerpeace.
(08:08):
And then I went on, and therewere many years I did not go to
any church whatsoever, but I didon Sunday mornings would sit
there and pray and say, Look, Idon't know what I'm doing.
You know, I know I had awonderful time this past
weekend.
I had all the the peopleyelling and hollering, the girls
laughing and smiling.
But uh, when I got back to thehotel, I was alone.
(08:28):
And in an insight, people wantto know why so many of these
major rock stars and them, whythey turn to drugs.
Is nothing more euphoric thangetting on a stage and having
20,000 people scream at you.
And then you go back to a hotelroom, nothing.
Nothing.
And you have to try to fillthat void.
Me, I know I I I'm amazing.
I I say I'm amazed at this,that in my 50 years of being in
(08:52):
music, I've never smoked acigarette, I've never done a
drug, I've never drank a beer.
I realized when I was 320pounds, I was addicted to food.
So if I ever tried drugs oralcohol, I was never going back.
I understood that.
I if of all the things thatI've done stupidly.
But it was one of those thingsthat you look at your life and
you see people, and you and toomany times that we as people,
(09:15):
just normal, that there was onlyone perfect person ever in this
world and they crucified himthat we look at people and say,
oh man, they're this, they'rethat.
No, you don't know what's goingon in their lives.
Amen.
Robert Collier (09:26):
I spent 31 years on the road with all African
American musicians, and we'venever had one racist comment, we
never had one racist argument,because I have this that I've
said to so many times aboutracism.
Racism is not the color of aman's skin.
Racism is the color of a man'sheart.
Forget their skin.
I I how how can you likeyesterday?
(09:48):
I I I'd met a beautiful blacklady, and we had a great
conversation.
I met her and I looked at herand I said, Do you hate me?
She said, Why?
I said, I don't hate youeither.
But I mean, we're supposed Iguess we're supposed to.
You know what I'm getting at?
It's not the it's not the colorof her skin, it's the color of
a person's heart.
And when we can get past that,when we can all get past that,
(10:09):
so as I traveled and met so manypeople, I can't think of
anybody I ever met right off thebat that I disliked or hated.
Because how can a man who camefrom his mother gave him up at
birth?
I was raised in a verybeautiful community, but it was
it was not hybrid, I was notrich.
How am I gonna look it down atsomebody else?
(10:30):
You know, I just lucked out.
I I very much lucked out that Idid not get into drugs and
alcohol and that I'm not holdinga sign on the case.
So you have a lot of gratitudethat you've just Oh, I I would I
would not trade, and I'm sayingthis a thousand times, and this
is where people really have tolook at it.
I would not trade a singlemistake I made in life ever,
(10:50):
because it got me to where I amtoday.
Ron Meyers (10:52):
Have there ever been a moment where your faith was
tested on the road and youreally had to say, uh uh, I
gotta practice what I preach?
Robert Collier (11:01):
Yeah.
I mean, there's many times thatI would be somewhere and
someone would do me wrong.
I had people that you know thatthat uh you you're talking
about would come up to me andsay that, you know, you owe me
money or you this and thatbecause of this show or that.
And I would want to get angryand lash out.
And I'd look at them and go,okay, you know, I live by the
premise of this because and youknow this better than I do, if
(11:24):
we'd had social media in my day,I don't know what we'd have
done because if every mistake Imade would have been magnified a
thousand times over.
So here's so true.
Here's the thing I do, and I'vebeen this way, and I don't know
if it irritates my wife and myfamily or whatever, but somebody
could come up to me and say,You're a thief, you're a liar,
you're this and that, and I lookat him and say, I must be.
(11:44):
Because no matter what I tellyou, you're gonna believe what
you want to believe.
So I'm not gonna tell you, I'mgonna show you.
I'm not gonna give you words,I'm gonna give you actions.
People are gonna say what theywant to say, and you can defend
yourself all day long.
You have you have you havemillions of people on both sides
of the realm that says OJ didnot kill his wife, and then you
have the other half saying thathe did kill his wife.
(12:05):
No matter what said or nobody'sdone.
So I have learned that whensomebody attacks me, I don't
defend myself.
I say, okay, God bless you.
God bless you.
You just turn the other cheek.
Yeah, because it does no good.
It does no good.
People are gonna think of youwhat they want to think of you.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Ron Meyers (12:21):
Over these years of not seeing you, God has really
seasoned you and and you have aa passion.
You you you can tell that youlike people, don't you?
Oh, absolutely.
You love people.
Yes.
Have you ever been in a hardseason in your life?
And and where was God duringthat hard season?
Robert Collier (12:39):
Again, my adopted parents.
My adopted father tookinfantsema and uh cancer of the
lungs, and he for three years,nine months, and twelve days.
And the reason why I know thatis because my mother kept
reminding me she took care ofhim three years, nine months,
and twelve days.
He was dying.
And we uh I would come home asa kid.
I was only a I started at sevenyears old, and I got eight,
(13:01):
nine years old, and every dayI'd come home, he was bedridden,
and I would have to, you know,wipe his mouth from blood and
and help him on the potty.
And I remember one day I camehome and I'm a kid, and I ran in
there, and he had a little pinksoft bristle brush, and he told
me, he said, he said, Robbie,he said, Come here, baby.
I said, What, Daddy?
(13:21):
He goes, Would you mindscratching my back for me,
please?
Well, my friends were outsideready to play.
They had a ball and gloves andthey were ready to go.
And so I grabbed the brush andI was doing it real fast.
And uh, he says, the otherside, I said, and I might have
made a sound or a grunt.
And I went, uh okay.
And he goes, baby, and helooked at me, he goes, One day
you won't have to do this.
That was fifty fifty somethingyears ago.
(13:45):
I've never gotten over it.
And I would give up, and and Imean this, this is not you hear
people say, I give up no.
I would give up ten years of mylife to be able to look him in
the eyes right now and say, I'msorry.
I di I didn't didn't realize hewas never gonna be there.
And I went through that for along time.
After he died, I never cried athis funeral.
Never cried.
(14:05):
I just looked and saw him andjust got inside myself.
And then all of a sudden, I wasa 11-year-old kid with a
69-year-old adopted mother, andshe was running a gr a a uh a
grill and cafe, and she didn'thave time for me.
And she did the best she could,don't get me wrong, she did and
I idolize her what she did forme.
(14:27):
But it was one of those thingsto where I didn't realize how
important it was for that momentin time just to scratch his
back a little longer.
And sometimes we as children,not only me, everybody, we as
children find our parents to bemaybe a little worriesome.
You know what I'm getting at?
(14:48):
Oh God, Dad, do we have to gothere again?
You know?
I would give up ten years of mylife to scratch his back one
more time.
And that was a dark period.
It obviously is.
Fifty years later, I b I begGod for forgiveness and I asked
my father, my dad, pleaseforgive me.
So there are times that you gothrough that and you are not
(15:08):
sure.
There's times that you gothrough and I'm I'm trying to
get people to understand thateven when somebody divorces you,
you know, they say, you know,you know, I don't want to be
married, I don't love youanymore.
Okay, well then you know, it'sa you know, some people can walk
away and some people carry thebitterness with them.
And what they need tounderstand is is that at that
time, stop.
(15:28):
Realize to tomorrow morning youcan change everything.
Ron Meyers (15:34):
There's somebody listening to you right now, and
they can relate to you, andthey've never been able to
forgive themselves, even thoughGod has.
You can give that person someencouragement and hope now.
What would you tell thatperson?
Robert Collier (15:46):
I would tell them to understand that give it
to God, pray.
Like I do at my that oneinstance with my dad where I
pray and I say, Look, I'm sorry.
You know, and and you know, youonly have to say you're sorry
sincerely one time.
You know, any time after that'srepetitiveness.
But if you really are sorry,don't do it again.
Ron Meyers (16:05):
Don't do it again.
Robert Collier (16:06):
Yeah, and again, I've told you that I learned
more from my mistakes than I didfrom my accomplishments.
I can remember some mistakes Imade that stay with me today,
and I ask God, I I wish I couldgo back to those people and tell
them I'm sorry what I said.
I'm sorry I hurt you.
This is when I was young andfoolish, and I thought I knew
everything.
And sometimes we just forgetthat no matter whether we're 20
(16:27):
or 70, we're still sometimesvanity gets to us.
Well, you're not gonna talk tome that way.
Well, why don't you just walkaway?
And and I'll give you this realquick, not take There's a young
lady at Walmart, young young,beautiful young lady, and she
was working.
I was two customers behind her,and this woman chewed her out
because of some well, here, thisstamp says it was 195 and
(16:48):
you're charging me 299.
She just chewed her out andjust embarrassed this child.
I remember looking at that,just shaking my head.
Well, by the time I got to theyoung lady, she had wiped her
tears.
And I looked at her, I said,sweetheart, I want you to do me
a favor.
The next time somebody chewsyou out like that and they're
getting all into you, they'renot mad at you.
Their lives are miserable.
(17:08):
And they have to take it out onsomeone.
So I tried to get her to laugh.
I said, So what you're gonna donext time, somebody's chewing
you out and just going on andjust getting into you, I want
you to look at them and think inyour head, I get off here at
five o'clock, but you have tolive in that body.
Don't scream back at them.
They're going through ahorrible time and they need
somebody to take it out on.
(17:29):
So what you need to do is justsay, God bless you.
And you'll see them, they mightanger get back at you, but
don't allow them to ruin youbecause they're already there.
People and I got a sign that Iput in my son's room.
It says, People that will tearyou down are too lazy to lift
themselves up.
Ron Meyers (17:48):
Wow.
Robert Collier (17:49):
That's good.
And also, never live down tosomeone's expectations.
Ron Meyers (17:54):
Live up to them.
Hey, the title of the show iscalled Get the Hell Out of Your
Life.
Yeah.
So, Robert, how do you get thehell out of your life?
Robert Collier (18:00):
It's just you don't allow, you don't allow
things that you know are gonnadestroy you.
You don't think so.
I mean, whether it's, you know,I I you know, I'm sitting here
on a Friday night and I'm aloneand a miserable, blah, blah,
blah.
I'm gonna go out and have abunch of drinks to get to to
really just get it out.
And then the next morningyou're alone again, this time
you're hung over.
All you've done is add pain ontop of pain.
(18:22):
So what you can do is I'm notsaying everybody needs to grab a
Bible and jump down.
Just you don't you don't need aBible, you don't need a church,
you don't need another, youknow.
Ron Meyers (18:30):
Well, look what you and I are doing now by just
talking.
Robert Collier (18:34):
God would love to talk to us a little more,
wouldn't he?
You know, I I I I I I said, youknow, you know, these people,
and and I I had a a a religiousperson, I'm not gonna say the
denomination, we had aconversation about, you know,
well, you need to come to me togo, you know, forgiveness and
we're gonna do this and that.
And I said, let me ask you aquestion real quick.
I'm in the middle of adulteringat 2 o'clock in the morning,
(18:56):
okay?
And I have a wreck and I'mupside down, I'm bleeding out, I
know I'm going to die.
I know this because there's noway anybody's gonna get to me
before I bleed out.
If I at that point in time askthe Lord, I ask God, please
forgive me for my sins.
I'm begging you, I'm sorry.
I've lived a horrible life, butI don't want to live a horrible
eternity.
(19:16):
Will God forgive me?
And he goes, if you're sincere,yeah.
I said, then why do I need tocome to you?
Why can't I go straight to God?
Why can't I ask him?
And of course come back withwhere two more is gathered.
I said, that isn't what I said.
I said I was alone, by myselfin the middle of nowhere, and
I'm begging for forgiveness.
I don't know where it is, butif you're out there right now
and you're having this problemand you think that you need to,
(19:40):
all you need to do is turn toone person, and that is God.
And I'm not trying to placateyou, I'm not trying to tell you
I'm this.
I make a lot of mistakes.
Still today I'm I still do Iget I mean, stupidly I get mad
at the Saints when they don'tscore a touchdown.
Okay?
You know what I'm getting at?
And and and when and when youfind out that your light bill is
$400 and you only got $300 inyour pocket, okay.
(20:00):
Well, that's just everydaystuff.
Eternity is a long way.
And so I try very hard for mychildren.
You know, my my children tellme all the time, when I
amazingly, my uh my one of my mychildren, you know, think that
I was not a very smart dad atwhen they were 13 and 12, and
now they think I'm brilliant.
And I'm the same person.
(20:21):
Amen, brother.
You know, and it's just one ofthose things to where and this
is what my children will tellyou it isn't what I say, it's
how I carry myself.
Oh, I make a lot of mistakes, Ilaugh, I embarrass them a lot,
but they never have to worryabout me not being there.
And they understand that beforeevery meal, every morsel you
put in your mouth, we will sayprayers.
(20:41):
You know, we will say theblessing.
My wife, I love her for this,that my wife knows that before
we go out with a bunch offriends, she knows I'm about to
tell all of them, hang on, we'resaying the blessing.
And if and I never say, youknow, anything else, I said
we're doing the blessing.
Everybody, I've never had oneperson yet say, No, I don't want
to do the blessing.
Everybody goes, please do.
I do the blessing before everymeal because there are people
(21:04):
out there who won't have a meal.
There are people out there who,you know, in different
countries that we never seedon't have a morsel.
Ron Meyers (21:13):
You know, when I I pray every day, Lord, who am I
going to meet today?
Who am I going to talk with?
And when I saw a social mediapost that you had, you had just
lost a friend or something andyou had some scripture in there,
some and I said, I felt God'ssay, you need to bring Robert in
and talk with him.
(21:33):
And I tell you what, sittinghere in the last half hour and
talking to you, God has done areally, really awesome job with
you in the sense of relating toother people.
What you've just said over thelast few minutes is going to
help someone so much, Robert.
And I appreciate your honestyand transparency.
And before we go, you've gotthe microphone.
(21:56):
I would love it if you wouldpray for our listeners.
Robert Collier (22:00):
I will, thank you.
Holy Father above, there's somany out here that are hurting,
lost, and they really don't knowthe way.
You don't have to give themlightning bolts.
You don't have to movemountains.
Just touch them.
Give them five seconds of peaceand understand that that five
seconds of peace can turn intoan eternity if they just trust
(22:24):
you.
Thank you for all you have donefor us.
And in this world where it'supside down, there's only one
way up to you.
Amen.
Ron Meyers (22:35):
Boy, what a great conversation I had with Robert.
And there's something aboutRobert's story that hits deeper
than the surface because itreminds us of a truth most
people don't want to admit.
You can look successful on theoutside and still be searching
on the inside.
Now, a few things stood outthat we can all grab on to
today.
(22:56):
Number one, labels don't decideyour life.
You do.
That moment when a teacher toldRobert he'd make a great
inmate, that could have been alife sentence.
But instead of accepting it,Robert flipped it.
The life lesson, you are notwhat someone said about you in a
moment of frustration,ignorance, or pain.
(23:18):
Number two, the stage can'theal what's inside.
The plause is real, but it'stemporary.
And if you're chasing externalvalidation to fix an internal
emptiness, you'll always needmore noise to drown out the
silence.
The life lesson (23:33):
healing doesn't happen in the spotlight.
It happens in the quiet momentswhere you finally get honest.
Number three, forgiveness isfreedom, not approval.
Robert talked about forgivenessin a way that's powerful.
It's not saying what happenedwas okay.
(23:54):
It's saying I refuse to let itcontrol me anymore.
forgiveness isn't for them, it's for you.
Number four, faith has to movefrom words to action.
Anyone can say they have faith,but real faith shows up when
(24:14):
you're misunderstood, accused,or hurting.
Robert chose actions overarguments.
Now, friend, that's strength.
The life lesson, your responseand pressure reveals the depth
of your faith.
And number five, your past canshape you without defining you.
(24:36):
Adoption, identity struggles,painful words, loss, all of it
shaped him, but none of it ownshim.
The life lesson?
Your story is real, but it'snot finished.
So let me ask you something.
What voice have you beenlistening to?
The one that reminds you ofyour mistakes, your regrets,
(24:57):
what someone said about youyears ago?
Or the one that says you werecreated on purpose with a
purpose.
You are not disqualified, youare loved, and your story isn't
over.
Friend, don't live on theisland of regret with villages
called should have, would have,or could have.
(25:18):
Why do you think you'relistening today?
Because God is sending you amessage, because this might be
your moment, your turning point,your invitation to finally get
the hell out of what's beenholding you back.
If this conversation todayspoke to you, don't keep it to
yourself.
Send it to someone who needsit.
(25:38):
Because we're all in thistogether to encourage, empower,
and inspire each other todiscover or God ordains destiny.
And now I want to pray for us.
Father, for the personlistening right now who feels
the weight of regret, the stingof words spoken over them, or
the quiet loneliness no one elsesees, meet them right there.
(26:02):
Remind them they are notforgotten.
Their life matters, they arenot disqualified or too far
gone.
Give them the courage torelease what's been holding them
back, the anger, the shame, thefear, and replace it with your
forgiveness, your love, yourpeace, your truth, and a renewed
(26:22):
sense of purpose.
Help them forgive even whenit's hard.
Help them trust even when itdoesn't make sense.
And help them take that firststep forward today.
Because their story isn't over.
It's just getting started.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, friends, I'll be backnext week with another
(26:45):
grace-filled episode of Get theHell Out of Your Life available
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a story you'dlike to share, please go to my
website, thepromoter.org.
Until next time, this is RonMyers reminding you that I love
you, Jesus loves you, and whenyou give Jesus your heart, you
(27:06):
not only get the hell out ofyour life, but life begins to
make sense.
Announcer (27:22):
Today's show is produced by Ron Myers
Ministries, a listener-supportedministry.
For a copy of today'sbroadcast, please visit our
website, thepromoter.org.
And would you prayerfullyconsider making a tax deductible
donation so that we maycontinue to share stories of
God's amazing grace with theworld?
And join us next week foranother broadcast of Get the
(27:43):
Hell Out of Your Life.
Real people, sharing realstruggles, and offering real
hope.
It's time now to get the hell out of your life.
A weekly broadcast with realpeople, sharing real struggles,
and offering real hope.
Today's show will encourage,inspire, and empower you to face
life's challenges with a boldconfidence and renewed hope.
Now let's join our host, RonMyers, the promoter.
Ron Meyers (00:21):
You can stand on a stage, hear the applause, feel
the lights on your face, andstill walk back to a room that
feels painfully silent.
Hello, my friends.
I'm Ron Myers, and it is sogood to be with you today.
This show is called Get theHell Out of Your Life: Real
Stories, Real Struggles, andReal Hope.
(00:41):
Today's conversation goesbeyond the spotlight, in the
places most people try to hide.
Because, friend, the loudestbattles in life, they don't
happen in front of people.
They happen behind closed doorsin the quiet.
Where regret whispers, angerjustifies itself, and faith gets
(01:03):
tested for real.
My guest today, Robert Collier,knows what it feels like to
carry questions about identityfrom the very beginning.
He was adopted, he had threedifferent names before the age
of four, and was raised by anolder couple who gave him
something the world can't fakegrit, wisdom, and community.
(01:25):
But life didn't go easy forRobert.
A teacher once looked him inthe eye and said, You'll make a
great inmate.
But for some people thatbecomes a label.
But for Robert, it became aturning point.
Today's story is a story aboutidentity, healing, and choosing
who you become when life triesto define you.
(01:48):
So let's get into today'sstory.
Robert, do you remember wherewe first met?
Robert Collier (01:53):
It was back in the 80s, mid to late 80s, and
you were putting on a sh sometype of marketplace thing down
at the old Gulfport Pavilion.
Yeah, right.
Rice Pavilion.
Right.
And I forgot what it was named.
Anyway, so you had come overand you had we were going to do
it, and and it it we kind ofthrew the band together at that
time, and we went and we wereperforming, and you came out,
(02:14):
and I remember saying, Who isthis lightning bug?
Because you you you were allover the place.
And I remember talking to youand we shook hands and we went
ahead and we had just a smallamount of time to talk.
But I remember walking away andone of the band members looked
at me and uh said, you know, whois that?
I said, uh his name is Ron.
I said, but I got a feelingwe're gonna see a lot of him in
(02:36):
the future.
You have to have drive.
You have to have belief inyourself.
Never seen you again until Isaw you on TV during your
Christmas down at the Coliseum.
And I went, that's him.
Well, you played for me, didn'tyou, at some of the festivals?
Your band called Meet thePress.
Right, right.
That was when it was rock, Meetthe Press.
And again, every time uh that Igot to see you, we didn't get
to see uh talk a lot because youwere Yep, I was always you were
(02:59):
always running around.
But it was one of those thingsthat you have to have, and I try
in my own life, you have tohave self-worth, you have to
have self-drive, you have topush yourself to say, I'm going
over any obstacle that comes myway.
And you went from doing that todoing those Christmas things,
and I'm just like, okay.
And then obviouslyChristianity.
(03:21):
And it's been a just anabsolute metamorphosis, and I
can look back now when I seeyour name, and I'm going, I'm
not going to say I knew that,but I had a feeling back in the
mid-80s we would be here in RonMeyer's name again.
Ron Meyers (03:32):
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: When I reached out to you to
have a visit with you and be apart of my show, talk about
stories of faith.
There's not a lot of people Iknow that knew me back to 30, 35
years ago, but both of us,we've grown, we've got wiser.
And tell us a little bit aboutyou, Robert.
I was born at Howard Memorial.
Howard Memorial Hospital was onthe beach down there right now
(03:53):
where my mother gave me up foradoption.
And from till I was four yearsold, I had three different
names.
Now, here's the thing.
I could very easily have beenangered at her and whatever, but
as I got older, I didn't knowwhat her situation was.
How can I judge her for givingme up at that time without any
explanation?
I didn't know her situation.
(04:14):
And now that I have childrenand grandchildren, I sometimes
sorry that I didn't get to knowher better, you know.
But anyway, I was raised on theeast end of Biloxi by an
elderly couple, third-gradeeducated people who were the
smartest people I've ever met inmy life because they had common
sense and they applied it.
And we had a small cafe downthere, a neighborhood cafe, and
everybody in the neighborhoodwas my family.
(04:35):
Everybody in the neighborhood,we all went down there, and I
remember that my parents, theywould do spaghetti drives and
cake drives to build St.
Michael Church on the on thebeach.
And once that church was built,and this is the amazing thing,
you don't have to have amaster's degree or a PhD.
These people on the east end ofBiloxi, who I cherish, were not
(04:56):
highly educated.
They had some, but they weren'thighly educated, but they were
educated enough and understandthat hard work and dedication,
when that building was builtdown there, and it's still down
there, the shell-looking uh St.
Michael's, it was paid for.
There was no loans.
And I learned that hard workand dedication from them.
And so it went on as life wenton.
(05:16):
I was not a good student.
I am today, can tell you veryhonestly, I can't tell you an
adjective from an adverb.
But as the last day I was atroubled child and I'd got in a
lot of trouble, and I used toweigh 320 pounds.
And I was got a lot of troubleback in high school.
My last day of high school, lavery last day we were walking
out, and they were giving me mydiploma, and that's the God's
(05:37):
honest truth, they were givingme my diploma.
I had a teacher stop me in thehallway and she looked at me,
she said, Mr.
Collier, you're gonna make agreat inmate one day.
Because I and wait a minute,and I didn't get mad at her, and
I wouldn't go home and tell mymom because my mom would have
agreed with her, because I wasin a lot of trouble as a kid.
But it drove me.
And I went to work for afinance company as a collector
right here in Gulfport, didn'tknow what I was doing.
(05:59):
Fifteen years later, I openedmy own company and I had the
mortgage to that woman's house,to my to my teacher's house.
Now, I had lost all my weight.
I was back down to about I wasdown to about 175, 80 pounds,
and I had a nice suit on.
I went to her house and Iknocked on the front door, and
I'm not gonna say her name, butI knocked on the front door, I
said, ma'am.
She said, Yeah, I said, I'mRobert Collier.
I said, I I have owned acompany now that has the
(06:21):
mortgage to your house.
And she looked at me veryinquisitively.
She went, Collier, Collier.
And I went, the inmate.
And she she came out and huggedme.
And I said, And I said, Thankyou.
I said, Thank you for it was awake-up call.
And here's another thing isthat it was her words, but it
was God's pushing and saying, itwas it was God's doing
(06:41):
something that I'll that thatI'll give to you reference later
on.
That God did something to methat I wound up doing to try to
help other kids.
And it wasn't one of thosethings to where it was a
lightning bolt.
It was a subtle push.
And so I went from there andwound up in the finance
business, went back into music.
I was doing both of them.
I was I was trying to be sobusy with the finance company
(07:03):
and playing music.
I was saying so busy, and Ithought I was trying to make all
this money, but then I realizedI didn't want to slow down to
realize how miserable I was.
I didn't want to stop on acouch and sit there and realize
I'm all alone.
I have no family.
And that's the reason whyalcohol and drugs are so
prevalent.
People, they're not bad people,these are not bad people.
These are people that got lost,they got lonely.
(07:25):
They they they didn'tunderstand that they didn't have
to have a needle or drink, thatthey just needed to back up a
second.
And nowhere in the Bible doesit say you have to go to a
building to get God.
Amen.
Where I found God is on theroad.
When I was driving from show toshow in music, I'd be by myself
and I'd put on a some Christianshow and then I'd turn it off.
(07:48):
And for the next couple ofhours, I would just think about
my life and say, what happensnow?
I'm really not happy.
You know, and I tried, and Iwas in Catholicism for 27 years,
and God, it's a beautiful,wonderful religion.
I have nothing bad to say aboutit.
It just wasn't for me.
I could not find that innerpeace.
(08:08):
And then I went on, and therewere many years I did not go to
any church whatsoever, but I didon Sunday mornings would sit
there and pray and say, Look, Idon't know what I'm doing.
You know, I know I had awonderful time this past
weekend.
I had all the the peopleyelling and hollering, the girls
laughing and smiling.
But uh, when I got back to thehotel, I was alone.
(08:28):
And in an insight, people wantto know why so many of these
major rock stars and them, whythey turn to drugs.
Is nothing more euphoric thangetting on a stage and having
20,000 people scream at you.
And then you go back to a hotelroom, nothing.
Nothing.
And you have to try to fillthat void.
Me, I know I I I'm amazing.
I I say I'm amazed at this,that in my 50 years of being in
(08:52):
music, I've never smoked acigarette, I've never done a
drug, I've never drank a beer.
I realized when I was 320pounds, I was addicted to food.
So if I ever tried drugs oralcohol, I was never going back.
I understood that.
I if of all the things thatI've done stupidly.
But it was one of those thingsthat you look at your life and
you see people, and you and toomany times that we as people,
(09:15):
just normal, that there was onlyone perfect person ever in this
world and they crucified himthat we look at people and say,
oh man, they're this, they'rethat.
No, you don't know what's goingon in their lives.
Amen.
Robert Collier (09:26):
I spent 31 years on the road with all African
American musicians, and we'venever had one racist comment, we
never had one racist argument,because I have this that I've
said to so many times aboutracism.
Racism is not the color of aman's skin.
Racism is the color of a man'sheart.
Forget their skin.
I I how how can you likeyesterday?
(09:48):
I I I'd met a beautiful blacklady, and we had a great
conversation.
I met her and I looked at herand I said, Do you hate me?
She said, Why?
I said, I don't hate youeither.
But I mean, we're supposed Iguess we're supposed to.
You know what I'm getting at?
It's not the it's not the colorof her skin, it's the color of
a person's heart.
And when we can get past that,when we can all get past that,
(10:09):
so as I traveled and met so manypeople, I can't think of
anybody I ever met right off thebat that I disliked or hated.
Because how can a man who camefrom his mother gave him up at
birth?
I was raised in a verybeautiful community, but it was
it was not hybrid, I was notrich.
How am I gonna look it down atsomebody else?
(10:30):
You know, I just lucked out.
I I very much lucked out that Idid not get into drugs and
alcohol and that I'm not holdinga sign on the case.
So you have a lot of gratitudethat you've just Oh, I I would I
would not trade, and I'm sayingthis a thousand times, and this
is where people really have tolook at it.
I would not trade a singlemistake I made in life ever,
(10:50):
because it got me to where I amtoday.
Ron Meyers (10:52):
Have there ever been a moment where your faith was
tested on the road and youreally had to say, uh uh, I
gotta practice what I preach?
Robert Collier (11:01):
Yeah.
I mean, there's many times thatI would be somewhere and
someone would do me wrong.
I had people that you know thatthat uh you you're talking
about would come up to me andsay that, you know, you owe me
money or you this and thatbecause of this show or that.
And I would want to get angryand lash out.
And I'd look at them and go,okay, you know, I live by the
premise of this because and youknow this better than I do, if
(11:24):
we'd had social media in my day,I don't know what we'd have
done because if every mistake Imade would have been magnified a
thousand times over.
So here's so true.
Here's the thing I do, and I'vebeen this way, and I don't know
if it irritates my wife and myfamily or whatever, but somebody
could come up to me and say,You're a thief, you're a liar,
you're this and that, and I lookat him and say, I must be.
(11:44):
Because no matter what I tellyou, you're gonna believe what
you want to believe.
So I'm not gonna tell you, I'mgonna show you.
I'm not gonna give you words,I'm gonna give you actions.
People are gonna say what theywant to say, and you can defend
yourself all day long.
You have you have you havemillions of people on both sides
of the realm that says OJ didnot kill his wife, and then you
have the other half saying thathe did kill his wife.
(12:05):
No matter what said or nobody'sdone.
So I have learned that whensomebody attacks me, I don't
defend myself.
I say, okay, God bless you.
God bless you.
You just turn the other cheek.
Yeah, because it does no good.
It does no good.
People are gonna think of youwhat they want to think of you.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Ron Meyers (12:21):
Over these years of not seeing you, God has really
seasoned you and and you have aa passion.
You you you can tell that youlike people, don't you?
Oh, absolutely.
You love people.
Yes.
Have you ever been in a hardseason in your life?
And and where was God duringthat hard season?
Robert Collier (12:39):
Again, my adopted parents.
My adopted father tookinfantsema and uh cancer of the
lungs, and he for three years,nine months, and twelve days.
And the reason why I know thatis because my mother kept
reminding me she took care ofhim three years, nine months,
and twelve days.
He was dying.
And we uh I would come home asa kid.
I was only a I started at sevenyears old, and I got eight,
(13:01):
nine years old, and every dayI'd come home, he was bedridden,
and I would have to, you know,wipe his mouth from blood and
and help him on the potty.
And I remember one day I camehome and I'm a kid, and I ran in
there, and he had a little pinksoft bristle brush, and he told
me, he said, he said, Robbie,he said, Come here, baby.
I said, What, Daddy?
(13:21):
He goes, Would you mindscratching my back for me,
please?
Well, my friends were outsideready to play.
They had a ball and gloves andthey were ready to go.
And so I grabbed the brush andI was doing it real fast.
And uh, he says, the otherside, I said, and I might have
made a sound or a grunt.
And I went, uh okay.
And he goes, baby, and helooked at me, he goes, One day
you won't have to do this.
That was fifty fifty somethingyears ago.
(13:45):
I've never gotten over it.
And I would give up, and and Imean this, this is not you hear
people say, I give up no.
I would give up ten years of mylife to be able to look him in
the eyes right now and say, I'msorry.
I di I didn't didn't realize hewas never gonna be there.
And I went through that for along time.
After he died, I never cried athis funeral.
Never cried.
(14:05):
I just looked and saw him andjust got inside myself.
And then all of a sudden, I wasa 11-year-old kid with a
69-year-old adopted mother, andshe was running a gr a a uh a
grill and cafe, and she didn'thave time for me.
And she did the best she could,don't get me wrong, she did and
I idolize her what she did forme.
(14:27):
But it was one of those thingsto where I didn't realize how
important it was for that momentin time just to scratch his
back a little longer.
And sometimes we as children,not only me, everybody, we as
children find our parents to bemaybe a little worriesome.
You know what I'm getting at?
(14:48):
Oh God, Dad, do we have to gothere again?
You know?
I would give up ten years of mylife to scratch his back one
more time.
And that was a dark period.
It obviously is.
Fifty years later, I b I begGod for forgiveness and I asked
my father, my dad, pleaseforgive me.
So there are times that you gothrough that and you are not
(15:08):
sure.
There's times that you gothrough and I'm I'm trying to
get people to understand thateven when somebody divorces you,
you know, they say, you know,you know, I don't want to be
married, I don't love youanymore.
Okay, well then you know, it'sa you know, some people can walk
away and some people carry thebitterness with them.
And what they need tounderstand is is that at that
time, stop.
(15:28):
Realize to tomorrow morning youcan change everything.
Ron Meyers (15:34):
There's somebody listening to you right now, and
they can relate to you, andthey've never been able to
forgive themselves, even thoughGod has.
You can give that person someencouragement and hope now.
What would you tell thatperson?
Robert Collier (15:46):
I would tell them to understand that give it
to God, pray.
Like I do at my that oneinstance with my dad where I
pray and I say, Look, I'm sorry.
You know, and and you know, youonly have to say you're sorry
sincerely one time.
You know, any time after that'srepetitiveness.
But if you really are sorry,don't do it again.
Ron Meyers (16:05):
Don't do it again.
Robert Collier (16:06):
Yeah, and again, I've told you that I learned
more from my mistakes than I didfrom my accomplishments.
I can remember some mistakes Imade that stay with me today,
and I ask God, I I wish I couldgo back to those people and tell
them I'm sorry what I said.
I'm sorry I hurt you.
This is when I was young andfoolish, and I thought I knew
everything.
And sometimes we just forgetthat no matter whether we're 20
(16:27):
or 70, we're still sometimesvanity gets to us.
Well, you're not gonna talk tome that way.
Well, why don't you just walkaway?
And and I'll give you this realquick, not take There's a young
lady at Walmart, young young,beautiful young lady, and she
was working.
I was two customers behind her,and this woman chewed her out
because of some well, here, thisstamp says it was 195 and
(16:48):
you're charging me 299.
She just chewed her out andjust embarrassed this child.
I remember looking at that,just shaking my head.
Well, by the time I got to theyoung lady, she had wiped her
tears.
And I looked at her, I said,sweetheart, I want you to do me
a favor.
The next time somebody chewsyou out like that and they're
getting all into you, they'renot mad at you.
Their lives are miserable.
(17:08):
And they have to take it out onsomeone.
So I tried to get her to laugh.
I said, So what you're gonna donext time, somebody's chewing
you out and just going on andjust getting into you, I want
you to look at them and think inyour head, I get off here at
five o'clock, but you have tolive in that body.
Don't scream back at them.
They're going through ahorrible time and they need
somebody to take it out on.
(17:29):
So what you need to do is justsay, God bless you.
And you'll see them, they mightanger get back at you, but
don't allow them to ruin youbecause they're already there.
People and I got a sign that Iput in my son's room.
It says, People that will tearyou down are too lazy to lift
themselves up.
Ron Meyers (17:48):
Wow.
Robert Collier (17:49):
That's good.
And also, never live down tosomeone's expectations.
Ron Meyers (17:54):
Live up to them.
Hey, the title of the show iscalled Get the Hell Out of Your
Life.
Yeah.
So, Robert, how do you get thehell out of your life?
Robert Collier (18:00):
It's just you don't allow, you don't allow
things that you know are gonnadestroy you.
You don't think so.
I mean, whether it's, you know,I I you know, I'm sitting here
on a Friday night and I'm aloneand a miserable, blah, blah,
blah.
I'm gonna go out and have abunch of drinks to get to to
really just get it out.
And then the next morningyou're alone again, this time
you're hung over.
All you've done is add pain ontop of pain.
(18:22):
So what you can do is I'm notsaying everybody needs to grab a
Bible and jump down.
Just you don't you don't need aBible, you don't need a church,
you don't need another, youknow.
Ron Meyers (18:30):
Well, look what you and I are doing now by just
talking.
Robert Collier (18:34):
God would love to talk to us a little more,
wouldn't he?
You know, I I I I I I said, youknow, you know, these people,
and and I I had a a a religiousperson, I'm not gonna say the
denomination, we had aconversation about, you know,
well, you need to come to me togo, you know, forgiveness and
we're gonna do this and that.
And I said, let me ask you aquestion real quick.
I'm in the middle of adulteringat 2 o'clock in the morning,
(18:56):
okay?
And I have a wreck and I'mupside down, I'm bleeding out, I
know I'm going to die.
I know this because there's noway anybody's gonna get to me
before I bleed out.
If I at that point in time askthe Lord, I ask God, please
forgive me for my sins.
I'm begging you, I'm sorry.
I've lived a horrible life, butI don't want to live a horrible
eternity.
(19:16):
Will God forgive me?
And he goes, if you're sincere,yeah.
I said, then why do I need tocome to you?
Why can't I go straight to God?
Why can't I ask him?
And of course come back withwhere two more is gathered.
I said, that isn't what I said.
I said I was alone, by myselfin the middle of nowhere, and
I'm begging for forgiveness.
I don't know where it is, butif you're out there right now
and you're having this problemand you think that you need to,
(19:40):
all you need to do is turn toone person, and that is God.
And I'm not trying to placateyou, I'm not trying to tell you
I'm this.
I make a lot of mistakes.
Still today I'm I still do Iget I mean, stupidly I get mad
at the Saints when they don'tscore a touchdown.
Okay?
You know what I'm getting at?
And and and when and when youfind out that your light bill is
$400 and you only got $300 inyour pocket, okay.
(20:00):
Well, that's just everydaystuff.
Eternity is a long way.
And so I try very hard for mychildren.
You know, my my children tellme all the time, when I
amazingly, my uh my one of my mychildren, you know, think that
I was not a very smart dad atwhen they were 13 and 12, and
now they think I'm brilliant.
And I'm the same person.
(20:21):
Amen, brother.
You know, and it's just one ofthose things to where and this
is what my children will tellyou it isn't what I say, it's
how I carry myself.
Oh, I make a lot of mistakes, Ilaugh, I embarrass them a lot,
but they never have to worryabout me not being there.
And they understand that beforeevery meal, every morsel you
put in your mouth, we will sayprayers.
(20:41):
You know, we will say theblessing.
My wife, I love her for this,that my wife knows that before
we go out with a bunch offriends, she knows I'm about to
tell all of them, hang on, we'resaying the blessing.
And if and I never say, youknow, anything else, I said
we're doing the blessing.
Everybody, I've never had oneperson yet say, No, I don't want
to do the blessing.
Everybody goes, please do.
I do the blessing before everymeal because there are people
(21:04):
out there who won't have a meal.
There are people out there who,you know, in different
countries that we never seedon't have a morsel.
Ron Meyers (21:13):
You know, when I I pray every day, Lord, who am I
going to meet today?
Who am I going to talk with?
And when I saw a social mediapost that you had, you had just
lost a friend or something andyou had some scripture in there,
some and I said, I felt God'ssay, you need to bring Robert in
and talk with him.
(21:33):
And I tell you what, sittinghere in the last half hour and
talking to you, God has done areally, really awesome job with
you in the sense of relating toother people.
What you've just said over thelast few minutes is going to
help someone so much, Robert.
And I appreciate your honestyand transparency.
And before we go, you've gotthe microphone.
(21:56):
I would love it if you wouldpray for our listeners.
Robert Collier (22:00):
I will, thank you.
Holy Father above, there's somany out here that are hurting,
lost, and they really don't knowthe way.
You don't have to give themlightning bolts.
You don't have to movemountains.
Just touch them.
Give them five seconds of peaceand understand that that five
seconds of peace can turn intoan eternity if they just trust
(22:24):
you.
Thank you for all you have donefor us.
And in this world where it'supside down, there's only one
way up to you.
Amen.
Ron Meyers (22:35):
Boy, what a great conversation I had with Robert.
And there's something aboutRobert's story that hits deeper
than the surface because itreminds us of a truth most
people don't want to admit.
You can look successful on theoutside and still be searching
on the inside.
Now, a few things stood outthat we can all grab on to
today.
(22:56):
Number one, labels don't decideyour life.
You do.
That moment when a teacher toldRobert he'd make a great
inmate, that could have been alife sentence.
But instead of accepting it,Robert flipped it.
The life lesson, you are notwhat someone said about you in a
moment of frustration,ignorance, or pain.
(23:18):
Number two, the stage can'theal what's inside.
The plause is real, but it'stemporary.
And if you're chasing externalvalidation to fix an internal
emptiness, you'll always needmore noise to drown out the
silence.
The life lesson (23:33):
healing doesn't happen in the spotlight.
It happens in the quiet momentswhere you finally get honest.
Number three, forgiveness isfreedom, not approval.
Robert talked about forgivenessin a way that's powerful.
It's not saying what happenedwas okay.
(23:54):
It's saying I refuse to let itcontrol me anymore.
forgiveness isn't for them, it's for you.
Number four, faith has to movefrom words to action.
Anyone can say they have faith,but real faith shows up when
(24:14):
you're misunderstood, accused,or hurting.
Robert chose actions overarguments.
Now, friend, that's strength.
The life lesson, your responseand pressure reveals the depth
of your faith.
And number five, your past canshape you without defining you.
(24:36):
Adoption, identity struggles,painful words, loss, all of it
shaped him, but none of it ownshim.
The life lesson?
Your story is real, but it'snot finished.
So let me ask you something.
What voice have you beenlistening to?
The one that reminds you ofyour mistakes, your regrets,
(24:57):
what someone said about youyears ago?
Or the one that says you werecreated on purpose with a
purpose.
You are not disqualified, youare loved, and your story isn't
over.
Friend, don't live on theisland of regret with villages
called should have, would have,or could have.
(25:18):
Why do you think you'relistening today?
Because God is sending you amessage, because this might be
your moment, your turning point,your invitation to finally get
the hell out of what's beenholding you back.
If this conversation todayspoke to you, don't keep it to
yourself.
Send it to someone who needsit.
(25:38):
Because we're all in thistogether to encourage, empower,
and inspire each other todiscover or God ordains destiny.
And now I want to pray for us.
Father, for the personlistening right now who feels
the weight of regret, the stingof words spoken over them, or
the quiet loneliness no one elsesees, meet them right there.
(26:02):
Remind them they are notforgotten.
Their life matters, they arenot disqualified or too far
gone.
Give them the courage torelease what's been holding them
back, the anger, the shame, thefear, and replace it with your
forgiveness, your love, yourpeace, your truth, and a renewed
(26:22):
sense of purpose.
Help them forgive even whenit's hard.
Help them trust even when itdoesn't make sense.
And help them take that firststep forward today.
Because their story isn't over.
It's just getting started.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, friends, I'll be backnext week with another
(26:45):
grace-filled episode of Get theHell Out of Your Life available
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a story you'dlike to share, please go to my
website, thepromoter.org.
Until next time, this is RonMyers reminding you that I love
you, Jesus loves you, and whenyou give Jesus your heart, you
(27:06):
not only get the hell out ofyour life, but life begins to
make sense.
Announcer (27:22):
Today's show is produced by Ron Myers
Ministries, a listener-supportedministry.
For a copy of today'sbroadcast, please visit our
website, thepromoter.org.
And would you prayerfullyconsider making a tax deductible
donation so that we maycontinue to share stories of
God's amazing grace with theworld?
And join us next week foranother broadcast of Get the
(27:43):
Hell Out of Your Life.
Real people, sharing realstruggles, and offering real
hope.
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