THOUSANDS OF dollars in debt; a failed marriage; constant unhappiness; driven to succeed, yet completely lost until, like Paul on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus.
This is a brief summary of the before and after life of Dr Richard Corbin – a man who admitted his life was a total mess until he swallowed his manly pride and with a humble heart asked Jesus to take control.
Corbin shared these aspects of his life during last Saturday’s monthly Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (Barbados Chapter) breakfast at Divi Southwinds Hotel.
The former psychiatrist urged his listeners to “walk with God because He loves us”, and testified of the numerous miracles in his life following his decision to choose Christ above all else.
Corbin spoke of being driven by his family to enter the medical profession since four other relatives were doctors. However, he disclosed that nothing he achieved in life brought him satisfaction or happiness.
“At the age of 18 I had a dream of what I wanted to achieve by the age of 25. I wanted to complete my studies in medicine, have a house, car and a boat,” he said.
He stressed that even after accomplishing these goals, he was still an unhappy man.
“I did not want to talk to anyone about what I was going through. The first mistake I made was trying to answer my own questions. I therefore felt I had not set my goals high enough and that was the reason for my emptiness and unhappiness; so I went on to study psychiatry,” said Corbin who, in 1978, became the first university lecturer in psychiatry in Barbados. Sadly, that achievement also left him empty.
“I was even more depressed. My [first] marriage was on the verge of failing and I was already the father of two. In fact, by the age of 31, I had gone through a failed marriage, but still could not find anyone to tell me what was wrong.”
Hurt and disillusioned, Corbin ran from everything he possessed and decided to start all over again.
One night, in the midst of his searching and challenges, he confessed to hearing a voice say: “You cannot save yourself; only God can save you.”
That same night he was directed to purchase a Bible which he read regularly.
That voice again spoke to him about attending a nearby Pentecostal church. Being raised an Anglican, he was reluctant, but the voice kept speaking, until he finally obeyed. This was the start of his journey to Christ.
He disclosed on another occasion, while abroad, Jesus spoke to him from a scripture verse which he found in the pages of a book.
“The message was: ‘I am come that you may have life and that more abundantly’.”
The voice also told him he was a sinner living outside the will of God.
“Immediately the puzzle in my life was solved,” Corbin told the gathering.
He took a flight home the next day, walked through the doors of the same Pentecostal church and gave his life to Jesus.
“I dismissed everything I had ever learned. The most significant change was that I felt the burdens I had carried lifted off my shoulders and soon a string of miracles followed. Everything in my life was reversed,” he declared.
His debt was cleared over a period of ten years, his marriage was healed, and God soon requested of him that he walk by faith, not by sight, and that he trust Him completely.
Now living lives committed to God, having given up their careers to become intercessors and more involved in God’s work, Corbin and his wife Dr Anne Corbin remain dedicated to spreading the gospel.
Each day he affirms: “I am now crucified with Christ. Now therefore I no longer live but it is Christ living in me. And this life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
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