Let me take you to the time, one morning, when I was sat with Ali MacPhee, ’cos that’s when he told me about the journey he’d been on and how he’d seen it happen, first-hand. This is how he put it:

‘I was born on the Southside of Glasgow, Baz. As a kid, even though I knew I was loved, there was always chaos in the background ’cos my dad was a bit of a gangster.

‘When I was five, my mum and dad got divorced, so I went to live with my gran and grandad, who lived in the flats next door on the top floor.

‘I really struggled at school, and I was constantly getting into trouble. My teachers would tell me, “You’re never going to change. You’re a waste of space. You’re never going to amount to anything.”

‘In my last year at secondary school, I got into football, and it was absolute bedlam! Drinking, fighting, looting shops and stuff!

‘I smoked hash for the first time when I was in my mate’s house.

‘I was 17 when the rave scene started, Baz. I had my first E at the Fury Murray’s night club. I loved it. I ended up selling it. I sold E’s and weed.

‘I did a bit of fraud too. I even got a jail sentence for petrol bombing a house!

‘Heroin was something else I started taking. Then I got into crack.

‘I’d gone down this pathway, Baz, and things had been getting more and more chaotic!

‘Then, I was in my mate’s flat once. There was a Bible on the table, so I went and picked it up and opened it!’ It was as though God was telling me, “These were written for you, Ali!”

‘That same week, I met this Christian guy. He prayed for me. I felt so much peace! It’s as if I knew that everything was going to be all right!’

Then Ali said to me:

‘And from that day on, it’s like the life I’d been living got changed up! I came off heroin and crack without any withdrawals. I went back to school and got a professional accountancy qualification. And I’ve got friends now, the kind I used to wish for but could never have had ’cos I was living a different life then.

‘People also trust me these days, Baz, and I’ve got lots of responsibilities.’ He reeled them off to me: He’s an accountant for a housing association! He’s on different management committees! He’s the treasurer of a charity! He’s even got his own accountancy business as a side hustle! And now he speaks in jails and stuff!

Then he went, ‘I never imagined I could achieve what I’ve achieved!’

Do you see all that’s doable with God pitching in? Listen: Hard pathways can get changed up!

Someone in the Bible who had been a fighter but was now getting on in years said this to God when he was up against it: ‘Though you allowed me to see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life.’

What about the pathway you’ve gone down on? Have you ever been told that you’re never going to change, that you’re a waste of space, that you’re never going to amount to anything? Have you got things that need to be restored? Maybe you’ve never imagined what you could achieve?

Listen: Hard pathways can get changed up!!

Barry