- Content: ‘God Is Great’: Chet Hanks Celebrates Sobriety
By Movieguide® Contributor
“Life is good. God is great. That’s all I gotta say,” Chet Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, said, celebrating two years of sobriety.
“This is my sobriety anniversary,” the 34-year-old said while viewing his Twelve Steps app tracker.
“Two years ago today, I was coming off a three-day coke binge where I didn’t eat, sleep or barely drink any water for three days straight,” he recalled.
“When I got to Vegas, I weighed 190 lbs. At the end of it, I weighed 163,” he added. “I lost 27 lbs in three days, so my disease is gnarly. It’s not pretty. I went straight from Vegas, checked myself into rehab…again.”
He continued, “Here I am, 31 years old, broke, strung out, sucked up, just skinny, just at rock bottom. I just knew, man, if I don’t change my life in a drastic way, either I’m not even going to be around or something bad, so bad, is going to happen that my life might as well be over.”
Confronting his mortality and his relationship with God transformed his life.
Chet gave his life to Christ after someone close to him died. While at the funeral, the pastor asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Christ.
“The whole church prayed over me and ever since that day, I’ve just felt different,” he revealed. “Everything changed since I started having Jesus in my life.”
He now gives thanks to God for his freedom from substances.
“All the pain in my life has resulted from one thing – the lie of believing that my purpose is anything but just serving God,” he admitted.
Chet is not alone in his struggle with addiction and drug use. An article from USA Today shared the harsh reality of what many people wrestle with.
“Nearly 25% of Americans ages 12 or older say they used illegal drugs in 2022. That’s 70.3 million people nationwide. Approximately 50% of Americans 12 or older admit they used illegal drugs in their lifetime.”
If you or someone you know struggle with addiction, help is available. Resources such as the SAMHSA helpline can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.
Movieguide® previously reported on Chet’s faith journey:
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s son, Chet, was an avowed atheist until he encountered the Lord…
Chet said that as an atheist, he was at a point in his life where he was very angry and very resentful before he went to a wilderness camp…
“I went off and sat on the edge of this cliff and was just looking out at the view,” Chet said.
“As I was looking out at that view and I was looking at where I had been from an elevated perspective — because I’d been stuck in this desert for 12 weeks and it just looked ugly and boring, and there’s nothing to look at. But now I’m looking at it from an elevated perspective of the top of this mountain.”
The new perspective started to creep into his heart.
“So I’m looking around, and I’m so overcome by emotion. It felt like I was touched by the hand of God. It was at that moment God revealed Himself to me,” he said. “All that anger, and that hate, and that resentment flipped. It inverted to just infinite hope, gratitude, peace, love.”
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