As a teenager, I would find myself in dangerous situations.
I usually put myself in these dangerous situations. But, God was there.
Something prevented me from being severely hurt. I think that something was
God. The situations could’ve left me physically hurt, even dead, emotionally
hurt, mentally scarred, or spiritually broken. But they didn’t. God was there
to protect me from situations I could not even guess. I made decisions to run
from God, ignore Him, and deny Him. Yet God did not let me get too far away
from Him. He kept bringing people into my life that knew Him and directed me
back to Him. He brought people into my life that didn’t know Him, but they
accepted me and cared about me. They tried to help me. I was helped in spite of
myself by the people God put in my life.
As a young adult, God drew me to Him. He used the Christmas season
as a time to bring me into a relationship with Him like I never knew was
possible. He used the people on my college dorm floor. He placed each one there
to make sure I knew them and would through them, come to know Him. God timed
everything out so that I would be in the right places, the right college, the
right dorm floor, and the right dorm room next to the people He wanted me to
know. In two weeks, this will have happened 34 years ago.
God didn’t stop there. He put the right people in my life to
help me learn more about Him and learn how to develop a relationship with Him. Some
of those people are still friends today, still challenging me to walk with God.
God brought me into contact with Christian groups on campus that helped me grow
stronger in my relationship to God. After college, God allowed me to find
churches and people in those churches to help me grow. As my relationship with
God grew, so did my ability to make decisions based on the Bible and that led
to various jobs and people at those jobs.
God was at work to bring me into a relationship with my
husband. I did not always make the best decisions when it came to this area of
my life, but ultimately God was there, picking up the pieces. I believe God led
my husband to love me, in spite of my many flaws. My husband was diligent in
his courtship and diligent now in his love for me. And, I’m not always easy to
love. But, God knew what I needed and brought my husband to me and keeps him
loving me.
I’ve seen the miraculous births of two precious children. My
pregnancies were anything but normal as I had to deal with my insulin-dependent
diabetes throughout both of those time periods. My children were born and live
healthy lives today. My high-risk pregnancies have not left any lasting effects
on my children. God was there throughout, providing for as normal pregnancies
as possible. It is not unusual for diabetics to have multiple miscarriages. God
spared me that experience.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve struggled in many ways that I
never would have predicted. Yet in spite of my screwed up thinking at times and
the multiple desires to end it all, I’m still here. God did that, too. I know
He’s been protecting me from myself and from the attacks of evil in my life.
There have been so many times when a thought would come to me that was not from
within me, thoughts about the legacy I’d leave for my children or the legacy
I’d leave for my friends and family. I did not want to leave this world a
quitter.
This is only a sampling of the things God has done in my life. The
recalling of God’s work in my life has renewed in me a desire to know Him
better. As I get to know Him better, I will see His unconditional love for me
and be better able to trust Him to fulfill His promises in my life. As this
happens, I will learn to trust Him even in the midst of my struggles. I can
choose to serve Him until the end of my days as a result. That’s what I want
for my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment