Growing up, my family and I attended Church every week. I believed in God and I considered myself a Christian, but my faith was something taught to me by my parents rather than something I truly experienced. However, over the past three years, through circumstances in my life and through studying His word, The Lord has revealed himself to me in ways that I never knew were possible. I have experienced The Lord personally, and finding my meaning in life has shifted from a focus on creation to a focus on The Creator. My faith in Christ has become my focus in life and I have trusted in Him through frightening times. My first personal experience with The Lord was during the end of my senior year in high school. I participated in organized sports …show more content…
I had attended church for eighteen years, listened to sermon after sermon, but never truly understood The Gospel’s message. As I read, everything made sense to me. For the first time, I realized the infinite holiness of God, how infinitely offensive my sins against Him were, the infinite need for Christ, and the infinite mercy, grace, and love shown through the cross. My focus in life shifted and I began to find meaning not in earthly things that can be taken away, but in the knowledge that Christ loves me and that He died for me so that I could spend an eternity in heaven with Him. As Paul writes in Romans 8:31-39, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I am sinful, and I am worthy of punishment and death, but God loves me so much, that, as John 3:16 says, He sent His one and only son to die for me. I read in John 14:6 that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life" and for the first time, I understood that there is no way for me to pay for my sins outside of …show more content…
In the year 2014, my sister was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that had a survival rate of only thirty percent. During that time, The Lord spoke to me through David Platt’s “Secret Church: Who Is God?” Suffering was very relevant to me as my sister was battling cancer and Platt addressed the issue of suffering using the book of Job. I began to read Job, and I agree with Platt’s assessment of Job, in that when people are suffering, they do not always need answers to why they are suffering. Instead, they need someone to be present with them through their suffering. The Lord demonstrated His greatness in Job 38-42 and showed me that His ways are beyond my understanding, His will is good and I can trust Him. The Lord showed me through Job and through Platt’s teaching that He is always present and He is sovereign over all things, including