As a child I can remember having a misty, distant understanding of God. However, I continued on through my teens and early adulthood oblivious to the fact that I was without Christ and without hope.
I can recall occasions when I would wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling of impending doom, not certain where I would end up when I finally passed out of this life.
Sinful condition
In God’s goodness and providence, during my mid-twenties, my uncle who had been a Christian for many years began to witness to me. He helped me to see that I was a sinner who needed the saving grace of Almighty God.
What had God to do with me? I was doing just fine and enjoying the pleasures of this world. However, as time went on I became increasingly aware of my sinful condition. Alarmed, I dug out the Bible that had been presented to me when I attended Sunday school as a child.
I began earnestly to seek God. As I read his Word, God’s Spirit slowly but surely began to speak to me. When I realised how much I had offended a holy God, the thought was too much for me.
I was so desperate and distressed that I would cry out, pleading that the Lord Jesus would be my Saviour and that God would forgive me all my sins. But for a time nothing seemed to happen.
He heard my cry
Thankfully, at that stage I was regularly attending a local Baptist church, where I was encouraged to wait on the Lord. It was clear to me that there was nothing else I could do.
As I attended church services and sat under the teaching of God’s Word, tears would sometimes fill my eyes.
My heart felt as though it would burst with the thought of all that Christ had done for sinners – his sinless life; awful death; the pain endured on that dreadful cross; the sins that he bore for his people; all this for them!
Finally the Lord heard my cry. One wonderful night when I least expected it, he quietly made his presence known and saved my lost and hopeless soul. I knew then that Christ had died for me.
Joy filled my heart. I was swamped by the Lord’s wonderful love and forgiveness. That night, I came to realise that I was no longer a lost sinner, but one saved by God’s free and wonderful grace.
