Since I turned my life over to God on August 4th, I have had people tell me of loved ones that have turned from God, and that my story has given them hope that their loved ones can still turn their life back to God. I want to tell you there is always hope! I have felt led today to offer some encouragement to those of you who are praying for the lost in your life, whether never having been saved or having wandered from the flock.
If you have been reading my blog, then you know everything from August 2nd going forward, but my journey back to God took much longer than two days. I was raised in church, and was "saved" at a very young age. I wanted to be a good person and make my family proud. As I grew older, I did all the things a good Christian is supposed to do: I memorized verses, went to church, went to summer camp, sang specials in the church, and acted morally in my life. I even went to a baptist college after I graduated high school. I had all the appearances of a good daughter and a faithful Christian, but my heart was not in it. If a child is willful and selfish, and only acts like a Christian for appearances, we can learn to harden our hearts to the message over the years simply because we have heard it so many times without experiencing change.
Over the next few years I stopped going to church and I began to live my life as if there was no God. And the years passed...and my family prayed. By this time, I had pretty much adopted the life of an atheist. Sure, I went to church on Christmas (at one point I even started regularly attending again) because I knew this was the "acceptable" thing. Outside of church, though, I scoffed and made fun of those crazy Christians who actually believed that there was someone in the sky who was in control and let their belief affect their lives. I had accepted, deep down, that if there was a God (and I wasn't sure there was) that I was going to hell, and had lost all hope that I could change any of it. My life fell deeper and deeper into sin, but I thought that I was okay, that I was happy, that I had it all under control. For years I lived what I thought was a happy and complete life without God. And then August 2-4 happened. And boom, my life was changed radically. But it wasn't magic, or a trick, it was the result of years of planted seeds and prayer!
What a wonderful feeling it must be for someone to walk in the church seeking God, and to get to lead them to Christ. Just a few short hours (or less), and you can see results from your effort. It is much harder to pray for years without seeing any return for your investment. But if my family had given up, I might still be lost today. I would never have received the church bulletin, or seen God's Not Dead, or borrowed it to watch at home. For years I avoided God, my family, the church, and anyone who tried to speak of God to me. For years my family prayed, and I lived the life of a non-Christian. I think that is the point: God did not answer their prayers right away, not because He couldn't, but because we were given the gift of free will and my heart was hard.
Your prayers are not wasted because they are not answered right away! The Lord is faithful to answer our prayers if we have faith. So take heart, and have faith! Your loved ones can come back to God and live a full life in Him. You can't change them, or force them, but don't give up on them either. Be prepared to be made fun off, to be ignored, or even to be hated. My family was, and I am so grateful that they were willing to put up with that to keep trying to give me the word of God. I can't promise it will be easy (I can't imagine what those years must have felt like to them) but if they had given up because it wasn't easy or quick then I would still be suffering.
I wish that my story gives you hope that, even if it takes years and years, even if you don't live long enough to see it happen, God can change the heart of someone who is running from Him. Have faith, and keep praying! I want to offer some verses that might be comforting to you:
Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you are reading this and you are lost or the child running from God, I have a warning for you: Your life might seem good, and you might think you are happy, but if you don't repent and follow Christ, you will never know true happiness in life, and in death you will know true hell! You have lived in the dark so long that you have forgotten what light looks like; Repent and ask Christ to be Lord of your life! Search your heart so that you might know the truth, because God is loving, but He is also just, and a judgement is coming. Please, listen to someone who has been where you are, and understand that your pride and willfulness will only lead to destruction. If you are struggling right now, you might be open to this message. But if you think your life is good, and you don't feel the darkness all around you, then you might not be willing to turn your life around, because things are going so well. I would like to share with you a quote from the movie "God's Not Dead".
Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn't want them turning to God. Their sin is like a jail cell, except it is all nice and comfy and there doesn't seem to be any reason to leave. The door's wide open. Till one day, time runs out, and the cell door slams shut, and suddenly it's too late.
I hope that this has been a blessing to you, and I will post again in a couple days! Till then...God bless you!
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