David Padgett shares how freedom from addictions comes when hearts are filled with God

David Padgett is quick to tell you that his story is not about what he has done, but what God has done in his life. At 53 years old, he has been sober since June 21, 2014, and he gives all the glory to the Lord for the transformation that followed. After many years of struggling with drugs and alcohol, he was admitted to treatment at Bradford Health Services and then spent six months at Any Length Resources Sober Living. There, David experienced God's hand of restoration in a way that reshaped his life. Once broken and without his family, he now leads them spiritually, reunited with his wife Laura—whom he first married in 1996, divorced in 2010, and by God's grace remarried in 2018. Together they have three children and are blessed with two grandchildren.

Since being ordained at Highlands College after graduating in May of 2020, where he received a degree in Biblical Studies and Pastoral leadership, David has served faithfully wherever God has placed him. For the past six years, he has humbly led as Pastoral Director at Bradford Health Services, the same place where he first went for help. In February 2024, he helped launch The Church of Receiving Hope, a ministry born out of his own story of healing and redemption, where he serves as lead pastor. David also serves as a managing partner and director of Any Length Resources, pouring back into the same community that once carried him. His life today stands as a reminder that when we fully surrender to God, and intently pursue a relationship with Him, He not only restores what was stolen by the enemy, but uses it to bring hope to others.

In this podcast, David describes his upbringing in a rather strict religious home where God's grace and mercy were greatly under-emphasized. He now understands that he had a God-shaped vacuum in his heart (that everyone of us actually has) that he sought to fill with drugs and alcohol. Obviously, nothing other than God can adequately fill that void, and drugs and alcohol certainly didn't for David. But, by God's grace, David got help from caring people in various treatment centers. And he then gradually began to have a real encounter with our loving God which resulted in his freedom from addiction and even ultimately restored his marriage and family! David concluded this podcast by offering hope for all of us who seek to fill our empty hearts with anything other than God, which can include food, gambling, pornography, work, acclaim, or whatever.