The "G" Word

Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless.- Bertrand Russell, atheist

I learned years ago never to argue with an atheist. It is an unwinnable argument. I will never convince them and they will never convince me. Usually, it suffices for me to say that I am an active Christian and let it go at that. However, yesterday I was asked about my thoughts on God and Jesus and so here goes. This is a small part of my story.

I was raised by a devout Christian mother and a drunken abusive father. (He had been a Christian himself at one point in his life but that is another story for another day.) So, my mother kept me in the church. Sunday school, Wednesday night services, Saturday Bible study, Tuesday night prayer meeting, Monday night missionary group....well, you get the picture. And as a kid, I thought most of it was okay but so boooring. I was neither old enough nor mature enough to "get it." And of course, during my high school years, there were too many distractions to truly give it much thought. I was just simply trying to survive.

From the ages of 18-28, I went on a journey...a spiritual journey. I was unhappy. I mean, I had a man, money, a house, a car...all the crap that is supposed to mean something but really doesn't. I was still lonely and miserable. So I was seeking something of greater meaning because I thought "there has got to be more than this." I studied everything I could find......Buddhism, Hinduism, reincarnation, astrology, tasseology, phrenology, numerology, tarot reading, runes....you name it and I have studied it and can hold forth at length on it. All the while my mother would talk to me about God and salvation. I would listen politely, all the time thinking "The concept is too simple and the lifestyle is too hard. I would have to give up too much." And so my life continued to spiral downward.

One night, out of sheer desperation, I decided to talk to God. (Now bear in mind, I had never stopped believing in Him, I just didn't have much to say to Him up until that point.) And I told Him "Listen, I don't know if You will pay any attention to me, but I know that I have nowhere else to go. I've tried evrything else and it's not working. I know that the Bible says that if I call on the name of the Lord Jesus, I shall be saved. So I'm calling." At the point that I did that, part of me was afraid I would drop dead on the spot. Another part of me was hoping that I would. Well, 8 years later I am still here (much to a lot of people's dismay;))

I would love to be able to say that from that night on my life became peaches and cream and a bed of roses. It did not. Within 6 months of being 'born again' (that's what we call it in these parts;)), my father died, my house burned down, I lost everything I owned in that fire and my 2 year old daughter (Joshua's sister) died in that fire as well. I truly think that if I had not called on God 6 months before that, that I would be in a mental institution today. Well, here I am 8 years later and still sane (for the most part.)

And life goes on.

All I know is that on that day that I called on God, I became a new creature, totally different than the one I was before. God spoke to me (no, not over the phone smart alecks) in my heart and in my spirit and I have never been the same.

I realize that this story will not make sense to a lot of people, much less make any difference in their day. That is quite alright. I am simply telling the story as it happened to me. It may sound crazy but I lived it.

Oh, yeah, do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah? Yes I do. The logic of this is pretty simple: If I believe in God (and I do), then I believe that the Bible (what we have left of it that has not been butchered through the centuries) is the living Word of God (and I do) then it simply follows that Jesus is the Messiah because God said so. That, plus I have spent many days talking to Jesus too. And He answers as well.

And I think I have said enough.

Peace alllll....................