Phil
Hi, this is a little bit about how God has impacted my life.
When I was 21 I had, what I now call a “look in the mirror experience”, this is a time when you look over your life in detail and ask fundamental questions about who you are, what you have done and basically ask the question “what is the point of my life and where am I going?”
From about 7 years old my Mum took me to church and when I was about 10 years old I knew that God was real and that it is possible to have a friendship with him. I knew that I had done, and did do things wrong and that God didn’t like those things. I also knew though that because of what Jesus (God’s son) had done on the cross some 2000 years ago it was possible for God to forgive me and that I would go to heaven when I died. I took the step that is required to become a Christian ‘I asked God to forgive me for everything that I had done wrong and committed that I would follow Him for the rest of my life’.
I went through my school years with the unquestionable knowledge that I was loved and looked after by ‘Almighty God’!!! I knew this not because I was indoctrinated but because I felt and experienced the love that I read about in the Bible and from songs that I sang in church.
‘For God so loved the world that he sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’. John 3 verse 16.
With the under-pining of this knowledge, it meant that I felt secure and loved. However I did not always feel close to God. This is not to say that God had moved away from me, but actually that I drifted away from Him.
In my teen years I continually drifted to and from God, with all the distractions that come, not necessarily bad in themselves but certainly a distraction from God. By the time that I was 17 my friendship with God was very sporadic, I would ask Him for help with difficult decisions but that was about it, the rest of the time I thought I could do it on my own.
Between the ages of 19 and 21 I was in full control of my life, God was there and I knew it, however I rarely if ever included Him in anything that I did or decisions I made. During these years, in reflection, I wasted a lot of time and made some poor decisions that have impacted me even to this day.
As I turned 21 I felt as though I had lost everything that was important to me. I still knew that God loved me but I also knew that I was a million miles away from where my friendship with God should be.
The next Sunday I went to church with the express purpose of meeting God. As I sat at the back of the hall I prayed a simple prayer ‘God I am sorry, please forgive me, I want to give you my life to do with as you choose’. The meeting was amazing; when you open your heart to God he rushes in with his love and forgiveness. I felt as though a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders, I was back close to my friend.
‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29 verse 11
Since relying on Gods plan for my life and trying to do the things that He wants me to do, I have had the most amazing adventure. I have lived in South Africa working as a youth and schools worker for a church in Cape Town. I have seen and experienced things there, which will stay with me for the rest of my life. God said to me in 1999 that I will meet my future wife that year! In November I did and now five years later we have been married a year and a half. Along with Kate my wife, we now have overall responsibility for the youth work in Barnabas Community Church and we have seen Gods amazing provision and blessing in our lives.
To summarize, in my opinion and experience, if you want the very best for your life, you need some superior help. Someone who has immeasurable power, someone who is all knowing and someone that loves you so much that He was prepared to die for you, and all this so that you could know him as your friend and have eternal life in heaven with Him once you have died.
Knowing Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened in my life, since relying on Him I have had the best time, done the wildest things, met some incredible people and married the best wife.
God has prepared a plan for your life, it will be the best life that you could live, and it is on offer to you, all you have to do is follow God wherever He takes you.