Spring Brings New Life: My Testimony

35 years ago Jesus Christ became my Lord and Saviour.

My testimony of salvation isn’t a flashy one. In fact, it happened rather quietly, as God used the prayers of many people, and the words and testimony of a few to bring me to a saving knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

At the time my life was going pretty good.

I was 26 years old, happily married, with three kids. I figured I'd already experienced the worst. I'd survived being a mixed up teenager and a marriage at eighteen that ended three years later in divorce. 

In 1980 I married Brian and we were very happy, even though we had gone through a bankruptcy, a miscarriage, several moves and job changes all within a few years. It had never occurred to me to call on God during those times, so why now? 

My Dad used to like to quote Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. Well God had used our financial situation to get us to a place where we were still. After our bankruptcy, we had moved from our small town to the nearest city. Brian was working steady and I was at home with lots of time to be still. 

It was my six year old daughter who first started telling me I needed Jesus. She was attending Awana Clubs which required me to help her learn Bible verses. I can still remember helping her to memorize John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A few months later, Brian found a better job and we moved back to our home town. We began spending a lot of time at my parents' home, where suddenly my brother and other family members seemed to talk about nothing but the Bible.

It wasn't long before I'd been still long enough to realize that HE IS GOD. 

He isn't some grey-haired old character in a fairy tale called Genesis, or a mean father playing favourites as he was portrayed in a high school novel. He's real! He created me! When I looked at everything around me, I knew that God had created it all, and he'd created it for us! It all seemed so simple; why hadn't I seen it before? If it wasn't for God, I wouldn't exist. Whether I'm healthy sick, rich, poor, happy, sad, the point is I'm here. I realized how much I'd taken for granted, and how selfish I'd been. For almost 27 years I'd thought about what I wanted and what I needed without any thought of why I was here in the first place. I decided to find out. 

I later realized that God had been working in my heart and drawing me to him and that once I came to believe, 'God is' and began to seek him, God honoured his word by revealing more to me.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

I began to read the Bible my brother gave me. 

He told me to read the book of John because it was easy to read and would help me understand things better. I also read the book of Revelation, and one thing I clearly understood was the description in Revelation 21  of the Holy City Jerusalem. I couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than the picture I had in my mind of that city where "God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." I guess I decided right then that I wanted to see it for myself.

We continued to listen to the Sunday afternoon discussions at my parents' home. At times these discussions became quite heated as my one brother argued the Bible with my other brother who happened to be a Jehovah's Witness. But in spite of this, I had come to understand my need for Jesus. I knew I wanted to take that step of receiving Christ but something held me back. I had this idea in the back of my mind that something spectacular should happen at the moment I prayed for my salvation. I was worried that I'd pray and nothing would happen. I was also afraid of what Brian would think since he had already told me he hoped I wasn't going to get religious.  So I put it off, waiting for the right time...whatever that might be!

One Sunday, my brother told us about a movie that was being shown in a local theater.

He was going to go see the movie a few days later. I couldn't wait a few days...Brian and I asked his mom to babysit, and we went to see it that night. 

I hoped this movie, The Prodigal, would make me feel that certain something I was waiting for. I also hoped it would have the same effect on Brian. 

That movie touched on so many things I'd been hearing over the past 10 weeks and answered any lingering questions I had. I'm certain that if there had been a real altar call in that theater, besides the one on the screen, I would have gone forward right then!

 


Even Brian said he liked the movie... and on the way home when I said to him,

 "I lied when I said I wouldn't get religious," He responded, "I know."

The next morning was March 18,1985. It was about 10:30 A.M. Although it was a sunny, warm morning, spring had not yet arrived. The trees were still bare, and the yard was a mix of slush, mud and puddles. I was sitting on a stool in my porch, reading my Bible, as my children played in the front yard.

I knew what I had to do, and that now was the time to do it. I quickly went into the house and grabbed the pamphlet that I had been given the night before. I had already read through the scriptures and explanation of the gospel before, purposely skipping over the prayer. I refused to even look at that until I was ready to pray it, and mean it. I went back out to the porch, and read the tract one more time, this time praying the prayer at the end. I cried all the way through, as I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

I looked up and once again watched the kids playing outside, too busy to notice their mom sitting there crying. But I immediately noticed some things. The first was a feeling of such utter relief…...the burden had been lifted! Then I looked out at the yard around me. Suddenly everything was beautiful! Somehow, I didn’t see the mud and the slush, or the gray, barren trees. All I saw was the sparkling sun on God’s wonderful creation and the promise of new life!

God is so faithful. He heard the cry of my heart and answered the prayers of those believers who had been interceding on my behalf. 

I thank God for that promise, and for giving me new life that sunny morning. 

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

When I began to write songs, one of the first was a song about my testimony, Because I Stopped To Pray. 

For almost 27 years I'd been going my own way. But God had been working all along the way, and when he finally got me to a place where I was still enough to hear His still small voice, I could no longer ignore the need in my heart. When I finally stopped running and turned to him in prayer, he changed my heart and gave my life direction.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

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