Hey, Everybody! I was thinking about something early this morning that turned my thoughts toward you. I’d just been going over my memory verses and started reflecting on the whole journey of faith. The ups and downs, the twists and turns. The pain and then sometimes the dullness that scared me twice as much as the pain. Then something would happen and revival would come and back in the saddle I’d go again. His Word would jump back off the page at me and I’d feel fully alive and wonder why I’d doubted. I rewound even further back to the years that I hoped so much that this God I’d been told about was real. I needed Him so badly. I found my heart believing and I deliberately placed my faith in Him. Then I thought about a specific season through which I went from hoping He was real to knowing He was real. Don’t get me wrong. I am still challenged to faith in many other matters and always will be, because “faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:1,6) But I seldom sit around and wonder if God exists and still speaks and still acts. Like you, I still see as in a mirror darkly and I wonder why some things happen the way they do and how it will all work out and what some things in Scripture really mean. But “I know the One I have believed in.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
We have so many new believers and even a sizable population of seekers in this community. Praise God, we do! We need to question our effectiveness the moment we don’t. So many of them would probably like to ask us how we “know” this God is real. So I ask those of you today to whom this applies to share a season in which you became convinced to the marrow of your bones that this is FOR REAL.
Think it through and be deliberate in your testimony. Please limit your story to one meaty paragraph so that we can read as many as possible. I can hardly wait. Let’s testify, girlfriends.
I know God is real for so many reasons! Like many have said before, it is hard to keep it to one paragragh. I grew up in a home where we went to church but, really we just checked off that we did our weekly duty. I had a yearning to know more about God but, wasn’t getting it in my home. As a young adult I was in a very abusive realtionship and had it not been for the grace of God I do not know how I would have survived it or gotten out of it. He pulled me through and a few years after that I got a job working with emotionally disturbed children. I know he was teaching me to work with these children while I was dealing with my abusive realtionship. I also married a few years later. We tried for several years to have a baby. I prayed and prayed to God to give me the child that I had always wanted. My marriage was a rocky one but, I thought that maybe a baby would save us. God answered my prayers but, His answer was “no.” I was devasted by that and then again by the fact that my husband decided he wanted out of the marriage. With no one else to turn to, I turned to God. There is no way I could’ve gotten through this without a loving God! I have since gotten very close to Him and live every day knowing that He has me right where He wants me. I am active in an incredible church, I have a wonderful group of Christian friends and a precious family with 2 nieces and 2 nephews that I feel as close to as if I had given birth to them. THEY are the children that God wanted me to have and I am so blessed! These are just a few of the reasons that I am SURE God is real!!!
I was going through a very selfish time in my life when it was all about me. Thank our Father in heaven that He didn’t let me continue in my distructive ways but only waited for me to literally fall to my knees and beg for His help. I was so broken inside that I physically could not stand any longer. I cried out to Him, confessed my sin, asked for His forgiveness and help to get me out of the situation I had gotten myself into. Instantly, I felt an enormous wieght lifted from me and have been praising Him ever since!! Its been years since that day but the memory is forever burned into me. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to move forward without the Holy Spirit carrying me at that moment. Praise God, praise God, I will forever praise God!!
Over the past year or so the Lord has been so real to me through His Word. As I have spent time with Him through this difficult time, He has provided His Presence and His Word to speak to me directly and personally. It is so hard to put into exact words how He has shown Himself real to me…this past year has been so personal and intimate, but I am sure in the days ahead I will be able to put into words some specific ways. I will say that the quote by Beth to “Sow the Word of God into the soil that is your reality” has been, in a nutshell, what has been going on. The harvest He brings proves He is.
It was a rather snowy and icy storm when I had fallen face first down my neighbor’s front porch, my chin hitting each step on my way down. Bump, bump, bump . . . This resulted in me being deeply bruised from my chin to my toes all down my front. The next day my mother and I were to fly out to San Diego to visit my sister. The bruising was so tender I could not fasten my seat belt. After arriving in San Diego, I went to bed in such pain that the bed sheet was too painful resting on top of my injuries. Then I cried out in a whisper, “Lord, I am in pain.” The next thing I knew, I was asleep, and it seemed as though a hand came down and stroked my much bruised discolored chin. The next morning, my mother and sister (both non-believers at the time) asked me “Who” was in my room? They said they could not see anyone, but knew Someone entered our hotel room. They also wanted to know what happened to my deeply bruised chin. It was back to normal. I answered, them that the Lord had touched me, and I felt Someone stroking my chin. Then I proceeded to do my Bible reading when all of a sudden, the Bible version I was using opened to a small etching of appeared to be someone lying in bed, and Another Great Figure stroking her chin; illustrating this verse: “When I kept silence, my bones wore away, through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me.”
On December 30th 2010, my world was rocked beyond anything I could have imagined. My next door neighbor lured me over and brutally beat, raped and held me at gun point. Through the beating I was crying out loud “God save me”, God save me”! And HE did, HE spared my life and I know even through the longest 45 minutes of my life that HE was there with me. After my neighbor let me go, he then took his own life. I am still walking through the valley, but I know I am not alone. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future and hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
Erika,
Siesta, you just keep on walking! God WILL glorify himself for you and through you for Himself. He will redeem what satan meant for evil to the good of many others. Your most passionate ministry will be a result of this horrific event. He has redeemed a many of us due to someone else’s evil. God is not only walking with you through the valley, HE IS IN YOU. He is so very awesome! You are in my prayers.
In Him,
Vickie
Erika-
So encouraged by your courage-yes He was there! Isn’t it so amazing when you KNOW He was? oh the moment I knew- it changed my life! Thanks for being so willing to share! To Him be the Glory! The enemy will NOT win!!!!
Erika,
I am so sorry that happened to you. Even though I went through something similar, I cannot imagine how traumatic that was for you. But you are right, God was and still is with you, and He knows exactly how you feel. I pray you are getting help from your church, psychological resources, and that God heals you in the ways that only He can.
Praying for you, Siesta
Never doubted His existence before, but for some reason lately, I have been plagued by thoughts as to whether He is really there, if He really loves me. My logical, saved mind knows that He is and He does, but my weak spirit doubts and it upsets me because I never have before. I grew up without a good father figure in my life and have often wondered if this is the root of my problem believing I could be loved. I covet your prayers as I wade through this spiritual swamp. Has anyone else out there ever struggled with this particular problem? God bless you all!
I have struggled with feeling deep inside that I’ll turn out to be unacceptable in the end. It made me sad because, as you say, I believe. So what’s been happening for the last year, and after 5 years of seeking the Lord, bible study, prayer, church involvement, etc., is putting His Word into my thinking. It started with saying, when I was really low, ‘wait a minute-I believe God’, and then went on from believing Him to ‘what is surrender?’ to transforming the mind with His Word. It’s been like that for the last year but I’m seeing that my thoughts are being changed. I used various tools; among them, Beth Moore books (yeah!), Andrew Murray books (Abide In Christ), Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, radio programs (James McDonald and others), the internet (Max Lucado and Wednesdays with Beth), early morning prayer and bible study (wonderful time!), bible verse memorization–all for pretty much keeping Him and His Word up front in my focus. Believe His Word OVER your thoughts and notions.
Siesta Sister,
God loves you… even when you doubt. Think of how lovingly He questioned Thomas… who had seen Him. Sometimes it is so easy to feel alone, but you are not. Praying for you!
Lauren
Christ sends me little reminders EVERY DAY that He is with me and I have learned to recognize what I once considered coincidence as evidence of His daily presence. I will get in the car and realize I have forgotten my cell phone (God prompts me!), then run back upstairs to retrieve it and see the bill that I need to mail sitting on the corner of the desk (God send me back to get it!) Or I get distracted while driving (God!), miss an exit and find out later it had been blocked by an accident. Another incident: I had an argument with my adult daughter and was really upset at the lingering animosity. I prayed for God to intervene and the next day, we were given some private time together (unusual, since she is in college and no longer lives at home) and were able to talk out our differences and let go of our disagreement and get back to the great place we have always had with each other. God ALWAYS stays with me and I sing His praises each and every “little moment” that He reveals Himself!
I was in the middle of experiencing miscarriage #2 when God met with me like He NEVER had before! I had actually been a believer for about 15 years by that time and I knew God was real…. And I had loved God and walked with Him for much of that time…. but when I went through the deep devastation of losing another child, after putting all of my faith in God that I wouldn’t lose another, God met with me in a profound way. Not only did He show me I was trusting Him in the wrong way—to work out things as I (myself) hoped He would—but He showed me how to trust Him the right way—to trust that His plan is perfect and good and so different (HIGHER) than my plan/will! In the middle of answering my many questions of why (especially why I felt so betrayed—though I wasn’t for one second… my hope just needed to be put in the right place… in God, not my circumstances) God held me in His very arms in the most tangible way I’ve ever experienced God. I knew I was right there, in His arms, next to His warm heart. He was holding me through it. In the most devastating season of my life, God showed Himself so TANGIBLY real and GOOD!! It reaffirmed my faith and His existence in a way that is still stuck with me! God is REAL. God is GOOD! His plans are higher than ours. His ways and thoughts are higher and better and more perfect than ours. And HE CAN BE TRUSTED!!!
p.s. Beth, what a GREAT idea for a post! Thank you God for giving this to her!
The “season” has been for the last 15 years. That season has included Bible study and scripture memory … seeking God with a sincere heart. He has proved so true to me … that He will reward those who seek Him earnestly. He has blessed my undeserving socks off time after time, revealing He is true/ He is real. And there is a closeness you gain to Him through the seeking that leaves no room for doubt. And I will say (will sound crazy to some) that my youngest daughter is a cancer survivor … at 13 months old she had a kidney tumor (chemo, the works). When she was about 3 years old, we were shopping … she was riding in the grocery cart … and out of the blue, she said, “Momma, Jesus touched me with with His finger on my cheek.” Like … Jesus had touched her cheek right there in the grocery store. As bizarre as it sounded, I didn’t doubt her for one minute. By the way, she turned 11 this last week!
I forgot to mention that the 15 year season thus far was started because of my dealing with infertiliy. I was desperate. I was scared … about to endure my first surgery. I needed my Savior. He’d been on the back-burner pretty much until that point. I think He knew exactly how to grab hold of me … and I’m so thankful He did. I sure grabbed hold of Him. I thought I might never have the desire of my heart since I was a little girl … children; and I discovered that God was the desire of my heart. He became ever so real to me.
25 years into adulthood, in my heart I heard God say come to Him. I believed in Jesus from the age of 10 but didn’t seek Him daily in my life. I always wanted Him deep in my heart but I had feelings of unworthiness. Living in a family that went to church regularly, just took it for granted and lived with feelings of lonliness. I guess that was the belief system I lived in. Then, after a heartbreaking thing, I came to Him and He’s been teaching me for the last 6 years.
He took our sin away by sacrificing Himself. He offers forgiveness as a gift because of what He’s done. He wore that crown of thorns, which is all that’s wrong with me. He offers salvation. He’s the only way. Not to mention He’s all that’s good (Ps. 16:2), He loves us with a perfect love, and knowing Him is a delight and living your life with Him is blessed.
I grew up in a Christian family, but grew far away from God after college. Finally, I was so far from God that I even questioned His existence. As a wife and mother I began noticing how I didn’t really have any intimate relationships. I prayed at an Easter service for God’s ressurecting power in my life. Sure enough, God began to reveal to me through my sister’s struggles that we had a lot of dysfunction passed down. A friend invited me to a Beth Moore study – A Woman’s Heart God’s Dwelling Place. I could relate to everything you said Beth. I began to work on an intimate relationship with God. Now I KNOW Him. I prayed for close Christian friends, and He has blessed me beyond what I can imagine.
First of all, THANK YOU Beth for being obedient to God’s calling. I hope (am sure you do) feel the difference you have made for HIS kingdom. I can almost chart my growth in Christ (grew up ‘christian’) by your bible studies. I had just started the Fruit of the Spirit study and that very first week I went to the Dr. to ask for help dealing with my husbands alcoholism…and oh ya, this lump that I had…and a flu shot. That was the order of things. But I know that God was preparing me for the worst. The morning of my appointment I cheerily sent the 3 girls off to school, went into the kitchen and started shaking. I JUST CAN’T do this without YOU Lord. We had a page a day tear off prayer of Jabez calander that the girls (twins age 10 and 14 year old) always ‘fought’ to rip off and read. That morning as I stood shaking, I looked and realized that it hadn’t been torn off. I walked over and ripped it off all the while thinking/praying for God to reveal Himself to me. It was October 19th. It said “Have I not COMMANDED you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” From that moment on I felt the peace of God in so many ways. After spending 30 min telling my Dr. all about my husband and how we could help him (with many tears) I said I wanted her to look at this lump in my breast. She told me off for not telling her about that first (isn’t that how we women are) and then booked me immediately for a mamogram and ultrasound, but she told me to be prepared for the worst and booked an appointment for me with the best surgeon in our city (whom I used to work for). Longer story short…it was cancer. What a week to follow…tests, appts, telling my family…but GOD was there with all of us, especially the 3 girls. When I saw the surgeon he treated me as a precious family member, booked me for sugery, for the day after our big church production that I was in and that my 14 year old was playing the main part (Mary). I had worked for Dr’s for years and had a good friend who is an Ortho surgeon. She cancelled her busy office and stayed with me the whole time. I ended up knowing everyone in the OR…coincidence! I think not. It was very bad news. Stage 3 cancer. As I said, I was doing Fruit of the Spirit. Did you know that you wrote that bible study exactly for me, for exactly that time? The first week I felt so LOVED by everyone I told. My friends at church surrounded me during the service while we listened to the song Peacemaker, and my worship pastor cried. JOY. The week my hair started to fall out (Beth, I know that you can relate to that dread…BUT, again, my best friend was my hairdresser and another friend of ours ran the shop where you buy wigs. They both sat and held my hand as they shaved off all my incredibly funky hair…and we cried, and then I bought a wig with long luxurious hair!)..I was on worship team that week and was asked to sing Joy Joy Joy Overflowing…PRAISE GOD…what a reminder. PEACE followed with crying out to Him at 5am one morning and me FEELING HIM PICK ME UP AND HOLD ME IN HIS HANDS, and seeing the houses below with words floating up to me as if people where praying. WHAT an honour. The next Sunday a great prayer warrior came to me and said “I just want you to know that I wake up at 5 am every morning and spend that time praying for you. PATIENCE, boy do you need that going through chemo…I could go on and on (as you can probably tell) There were so many everyday miracles, so many promises you reminded me of during study, so many close times with God. YES, I know that I know that I know HE LIVES. Did all my problems get solved? No. But over these 6 years (and all the studies of yours that I have had the privelage of leading) He has shown Himself to me every day. So many trials (job loss, continued alcohol abuse…etc) but I do not worry. I have learned that lesson and know that God is in control. I know this is way to long, but fast forward to this past fall/winter. I have been leading Breaking Free and now Daniel. My 40+ women won’t even stop for Spring break! They prayed and prayed one morning when I told them I was done (after 25 years) of dealing with my husbands alcohol abuse. Six days later I took him to the Dr. and he told her that 6 days earlier he had been sitting (Wed AM while I was at study) and it was like his eyes were opened and from then on he felt ill when he even thought of drinking. He has had many struggles since that day (Satan knows his history…Dad alcoholic etc.) but today he is in a rehab clinic, and we continue to pray. God’s timing. I feel like I have already been able to minister to so many people with the trials that I have been through, but can tell them that the only way to get through them is with JESUS right beside me. (yes, we also did Jesus the one and only)….We pray for you every week and continue to “thank God for you”. We all wish we could just sit down in a cozy room and have coffee with you and tell you all the amazing things that God has done…I live in Thunder Bay Ontario Canada and 20 of us are going to your conference in Minneapolis in May and WE CAN’T WAIT. See you then….we’ll be the ones screaming, singing, laughing, praising, worshiping…the loudest.
In the last year, through my workplace, I have developed friendships with two women. Wonderful women. Women who don’t know Christ. One is Hindu and one who simply explained “I am not a religious person”. And they are my friends – one with a new baby who was born with health issues and one who lost her spouse to cancer recently. My heart has broken for them wondering how they live. Praying for them to know Christ has taken me on a journey of re-thinking “How do I know that I know?” “How do I share?” Certainly not the first or last time I’ll revisit this – but this time the answer is different. I know because of WHO I KNOW. Christ, MY Lord, Jesus, MY Savior and Friend. The Person of the Living God who meets me in my “muddle” and carries me through. Who is my invincible army and helps me to walk and make spiritual progress and not stand still in terror. My friends don’t need explanations – they need the Truth of Him. They need to see, as they share my life, all that He is to me and me clinging to Him.
When I was younger my sister and I like to lay up in the dash board of the car where the window was at night and look up at the stars. I would wonder about God and if He was real. I soon learned Someone bigger than I was had to have created all there is around us.
We have no pat answers to everything. Bad things happen. Satan is always trying to attack us in someway. But, I know Who holds tomorrow.
Through life’s experiences we learn, we see and we hear God. When I was 16 years old I committed my life to Christ.
As years went by my mother went through two brain tumor surgeries and had cancer. There were things I did not understand. I prayed for her healing and for her not to feel the pain, but God did not specifically answer in the way I thought He would. She later passed away. God will take care of her in Heaven.
God gave me a verse 2 Peter 1:5 …add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love. This produces Christian living.
God has taken this shy, poor kid who thought she wanted to be a school teacher yet was an average student, and felt like a nobody__then let her teach Sunday School and VBS to kids, help teach women’s Sunday School and even start a Women’s Bible study and a Women’s brunch. He has used me to be a blessing to others. He gave me a Christian family_a husband and twin boys. He changed my life and He could take it all away tomorrow, but I know He hears my prayers also. I have seen what He can do and what He is doing in other people’s lives. I have seen others come to Christ.
He is my provider, protector, my hope, my joy, my comfort, my forgiver, and my Holy, Righteous God.
I was 20 years old, had just identified my father’s body at the hospital, and asked a nurse if there was a chapel where I could pray near by. She directed me to the chapel and I walked towards the front where a huge Bible was open. I cried out to God and asked him how we were supposed to get through this tragedy and looked down to find the words from Proverb 3:5-6.
“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all of your ways and he will make your paths straight.”
It was a road map for how we would put our lives back together and give God glory in every circumstance. God speaks! He’s the real thing!
Beth,
So needed to hear Proverbs 3:5-6, God always reminds me of that verse so many times especially when I need Him the most. Thank you so much.
Satan did not want me to hear this, my electricity has gone out four times today. What a blessing you are!
Thank you Lord for your word!!
Having the storybook childhood, my life was perfect. I am a Southern Baptist preacher’s kid and unlike the norm, I never strayed too far from my Christian heritage. God has always been a part of my life, but he didn’t BECOME my life & breath until the summer of 2005. My dad (who was everything I thought God to be – my interpretation not his) discovered he had a cancerous brain tumor. Through that “Life Interruption” God slowed peeled back the layers of my life to reveal strongholds I didn’t know I had, messed up theology I had created, sins that were so deep I thought they were just “who I was”, and the warfare in my mind that can only be fought with scripture. Now 6 years later, I KNOW who and what my GOD is and what he is not. I KNOW the important my picking up my Sword of the LORD daily to fight, and I KNOW I can’t live (sometimes take the next breath) without HIM.
Heather J.
Phil 3:10 (Amplified Bible)
P.S. My Dad is alive & well…cancer free & still preaching.
Heather, thanks for your message. Your words feel as if God put them there just for me.
My God is real, this I know. During the dark and devastating period of my life after my brother was killed, God wrapped me in His arms and never let go! My parents were going through a divorce during this time. I was being shuffled from house to house. My life was upside down. I sought comfort in places I never should have been. I thought about suicide more than once. But I don’t doubt that God carried me through that. Somebody out there needs to hear that they are not alone today. When you have nothing else, you have God and He loves you! However, that is not THE for real moment for me that screams out. That happened in 2008. I was rushed to the hospital unconscious due to diabetes problems. Before I woke up in the emergency room, I remember thinking “Here I am, Lord. I’m ready to go.” Then I opened my eyes and realized I was in the hospital. My next thought was “You’re leaving me here???” It was then that I realized that God wasn’t done with me yet. At first, I felt sad, but then I realized that this was His plan. So, I checked myself out of the hospital, drove to Boise, Idaho, picked my mom up at the airport, and we went to Living Proof Live that weekend. And I will never forget when Travis Cottrell and the praise team sang In Christ Alone. It sent chills up my spine. No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me. From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, could ever pluck me from His hand. Til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand. It was in that moment that I knew it was FOR REAL….FOR ME. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
I was at a point in my life where I was lost and hopeless. I was a single parent struggling to keep it together. I was angry at God. Angry at my ex and angry at the world for the hand I had been delt. There were many days when I went to work with tears in my eyes and a broken heart. One day a co-worker gave me a book that talked about the love of Jesus. I had never read such a book before. I had many, many questions about this “Jesus” that the book talked about. The next week I went to a church in my neighborhood and talked to the Pastor and his assistant and together they shared the Gospel with me. For the very first time in my life I understood who Jesus was and I understood who I was. That day I humbled myself and I ask Jesus to be Lord of my life. It’s been over ten years now that I’ve been walking with the Lord and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank Him for my salvation. To God be the glory for Great things He has done!
Can I send a comment and not have my name show up, post as anonymous in other words, even though it is linked to my email.
I would prefer that you not publish this request.
Yikes to have to limit it to a paragraph is hard! But I will tell of 2 distinct times when I knew without a doubt God was for real! The first time was when I met Beth Moore in person at a Living Proof Live event after accepting Jesus. I knew that out of the 6000 women that were there and would have loved the chance to have met her, I was 1 of a dozen who did. It was a long story of how that happened but I remember feeling that God loved me that much to make it happen since the weekend was such an ordeal for me anyway. The other time was when I found out that my husband had been unfaithful to me several times in the last several years. I had wanted out of our marriage several times in the past and now I had an “excuse”. However that never once crossed my mind. I knew that God had done something in me and was with me. Because of him, our marriage is the best it has ever been. Also because of him, my husband is now a believer! God told me years ago to pray for my husband. I told God to use me if that was what it took. He did and he came through! He is SO real that it’s hard to comprehend sometimes! I hope this helps someone! 🙂
A few years ago, a dear friend of ours from our Small Group Bible Study at church became very ill due to a complication from a gall stone. Within a few hours, he became so sick his wife took him to the ER where they had to perform immediate surgery to try to alleviate the problem. In all manner of speaking, the surgery was too late. His body went into septic shock, started shutting down and should have died. His wife, one of the nicest women I know, refused to give in to despair. She asked our church and small group to start praying and so we did. Our small group did everything we could to try to help her through this as they have two small boys (ages 2 and 4 at the time). After a few days of fighting a 105+ fever, the doctors were sure it would only be days or hours til he passed. Well, days passed and the doctors told her that her friends need to keep praying because NOTHING else could explain why her husband was still alive! (Can you believe that – they actually said this!!) A long set of surgeries, months in a hospital, and years of recovery later, he is alive and doing pretty well – able to work again and have fun with his sons. Because of this – a co-worker of his and her now husband became believers. This was one of those times when I just knew that there was no other explanation that he was spared than because there was a REAL God who had a plan for this man’s life! There are so many small details that God worked out just in this story alone that I could share but due to length will cut this short. Just know that God made Himself real to many of us through that time and that He loves you and longs for you to know Him. :0)
I accepted Christ Jesus as my savior in grade school, not long after my younger sister died. Jesus was real and present to me, even as a young girl. When I was 14 I was engulfed by a situation that existed for more than 4 years that was so damaging and abusive that I became certain that God had no words of comfort, rescue or forgiveness for me. I was convinced that I was forever forsaken.
In the years that followed after the abuse ended, I struggled emotionally, physically and remained spiritually estranged from God. An acquaintance reintroduced me to Christ (through a 4 spiritual laws tract!) and I rededicated my life to Christ. Even then the healing from shame and degradation eluded me. But God’s clock is eternal; He could have given me healing and wholeness in the blink of an eye, but instead called me to a lifetime of surrendering my brokenness to his Hand. My sweet Savior Jesus has done his work of transformation one baby step at a time, teaching me to depend only on Him and trust his love.
I’m middle-aged now and can testify to how real and mighty God is; His word has been my hope, shield, refuge and strength. He has taken the shattered pieces of my early life and used fire to meld them into a work of His art; a stained glass masterpiece that reflects His light and His redemption. Don’t get me wrong — I’m no masterpiece of beauty; it is Christ in me, the healer of the broken hearted.
Psalm 18:16-19
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because HE DELIGHTED IN ME.” (NIV, emphasis mine).
Here are some facts from my life: I have never met my father, I was abused as a child, grew up with an alcoholic mother and brother, had friends that were drug addicts and I never fit in with anyone. Despite all of that, before I knew who God was he saved me! Other people I know who had been in the same situations as I had been turned to promiscuity and drugs and rebellion. I did not. At the time I thought there must be something wrong with me to not act out. I can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I knew he was real, but he began revealing himself to me a little bit at a time. There were odd “coincidences” like reading a particular scripture and then suddenly everywhere I looked it would pop up! Strangers would ask to pray for me who I had never talked to and they would pray exactly what I needed at that particular moment. My marriage started crumbling around me and I had no one to turn to except God. That’s when I started to really feel his presence. I don’t have a dramatic testimony but for me, that’s okay. I needed to be convinced with small details that he was right next to me all along. Seeing all the small things helped me believe that he really cares about every detail in my life, which then opened my eyes to the huge things like how he had saved me from the destruction of my childhood. All along he’s given me what he knew I could accept which proved to me that he is real because how could the God of the universe know such intimate details about one little person?
what a great testamony this is.
God’s reality has led me lo, these 63 years on a journey that is uniquely mine and designed to test me, to try me that I might know what is in my heart…and I’ve come to the knowledge that it is His grace and wonderous love, over and over again. Times I’ve been cornered and had to deal…and He revealed and healed. One of the most dramatic events of His reality occured about 12 years ago. That night I had dreamed a very vivid dream where I saw a black curtain come down and the word “INCONGRUOUS” written in white phosphorescent letters. When I woke up, I felt sure someone in my family was facing death…the word incongruous meaning “out of order”. I called our Associate Pastor and asked him to please pray fervently, I was very troubled over this dream and the meaning I had been given. Little did I know, I was the one the dream was pertaining to. Next thing, the phone rings and it was my husband calling from his work, and a piece of metal had gotten in his eye and he needed me to drive out to El Segundo and pick him up and get him to an Ophthamologist in Orange County who could help him. I rushed out to my car, and 6 blocks from my house, I saw the light green and proceeded through the intersection in a hurry, and I was broadsided by a van going 45 MPH! I was driving our Toyota Supra at the time, and it’s design had a roll cage around the driver and I was miraculouly spared sudden death! (The van driver testified that I had run a red light! There was where the “incongruous” came in…) The “Jaws of Life” had to be used to get me out of the car, but at the moment of impact I cried out the name “Jesus! Help me!” The next thing I knew a woman was standing next to the crumpled car and assuring me I would be alright. To me, she was an angel. I asked where she lived..she told me “On the corner”…then the sounds of sirens, and excited paramedics. They took my blood pressure and it was normal! They were so stunned, but I told them “God is with me!” The police called my husband at work, and he cried so hard, the metal was flushed out of his eye, and he was able to drive to the hospital I was taken to in OC! The emergency room just so happened to be staffed by one of our deacons from the church, and the most humilitating thing was having to drop my drawers for a pain shot by him! We had to laugh at that. However, Xrays showed I did suffer a broken collarbone, and as a result, my working days as a Hairdresser was over. The injury was not bad enough to even hospitalize me, and the other driver was not seriously injured either. The next day we went back to the scene of the accident, and visited all the homes nearby to talk with the “angel lady” that had so wonderfully encouraged me. People had seen her, but no one knew who she was or where she lived. Scripture teaches us that angels are ministers to heirs of salvation, and I believe that is truly what I experienced. For 6 months before this “accident” occured, I had prayed and asked the LORD, how on earth I would be able to gracefully walk away from my clientele of 30 years? God had the answer all the time. “Trust and obey for there is no other way…” I testify boldly: God is so real, and grace is everywhere. He knows, He sees and He loves. Blessed be His Holy Name!
Pam H.
Wow..I have goose bumps! Amazing.
I grew up in a nonChristian home. My parents divorced when I was 5. We left my dad to live with my mom; shortly after she fell deep into drugs and alcohol. My mother bounced us around from home to home as she bounced from boyfriend to boyfriend. After almost 2 years my father finally regained custody of me, my sister, and brother. One month before my 8th birthday day, my mother was killed in a car accident. Growing up without a mother I always felt a huge void in my heart. In my teenage years I tried to find the love I lost when I lost my mom in boys but never found it. I started going to church because of a boy I liked and something happened I never imagined. I did find love but it wasn’t from just any boy; I found the love of Jesus and I’ve never been the same. A verse I have always treasured is Isaiah 66:13 “As a mother comforts her child, so shall I comfort you.” I was the only Christian in my family for a really long time. It’s one of the hardest things to know your family doesn’t have faith in Jesus, but it taught me to depend solely on him. Since I had no Christian parents to teach me about God, I had to read the Bible and trust God to teach me his ways. I now have 3 children of my own and a wonderful husband to help me bring them up in the way of the Lord. I think God has used my past to make me a better wife, mother, and friend and I won’t trade that for the world.
Thank you for sharing that.
He has been there for me every time I needed him, knowing perfectly how to help me and minister to me and give me wisdom in every situation. He was my only friend in times of trouble and loneliness, he loved me in times when I was unlovable and never gave up on me. He is awesome.
I concur with Billy Graham who was once asked on tv this very question – How do you know God is real?
His answer (and mine):
“I know God is real because I just spoke with Him this morning.”
I love it!
Love that when Nicole C. MUllen sings that in her song Redeemer Lives… I spoke with HIm this morning! Praise God we can talk to Him anytime!
I wont make this too long because I know so many have so much to write, but simply look outside. The sky, the flowers, the blessings day by day and there is NO question. Everything is made from something. My bed did not simply POP into existance! There was a design, then a maker – just like us and we must have faith in the ONE who not only designed us but made us.
Praise God!
Dawn
I have been blessed to have a very close relationship with my biological sister. She is also a sister in the Lord. In 2003, we had a serious “falling out”. I had not told my friends about this yet. About a month into this alienation, my husband was prayed over at a Bible study. My husband was told during the prayer, that Satan was trying to derail my faith in a falling out with a relative! There is no way the man praying could have known anything about it. I felt very loved by the Lord, that He really does see everything and cares about everything that happens to us. And, my sister and I resolved, and have an even better relationship now.
Many times over the years God has proved Himself real to me, but honestly in the last two months He’s never been more real, more present. My husband is a Pastor and we moved to OKC (our hometown) almost five years ago, a very difficult transition. My oldest son had brain surgery within our first 18 months here. God was real and has done and is doing incredible things through his testimony. My youngest son still struggled. Fast forward…October of 2010 my Nana who practically raised me came to live with us, she was 90 and up until August had lived entirely on her own. She drove and last summer was vacationing in the Caribean. She was NOT your typical 90 year old;)! She was diagnosed with bladder cancer in August and went downhill pretty fast. She lived with us and my boys got to experience her joy, just as I had growing up. The Pastorate has kept us away from home all the time my boys were little so they didn’t know her well until now. She had surgery on Jan. 3, 2011 to remove part of her bladder and came through it remarkably. She went home a week later with my mom and began feeling a little sick. On Feb. 3 we were told the cancer had spread to her entire abdomen and there was nothing they could do but keep her comfortable. My Nana in that very moment began witnessing to her doctor. In the days that followed she came back home with me and hospice became like family. We took shifts for a couple of days because she needed around the clock care. Her decline was steady. Our family gathered, there are A LOT of us;) she has 5 children. 27 of us stayed the night with her for two nights. She told everyone she was sorry for ever offending them and that they needed to be secure with Jesus because she wanted to see them again. She witnessed to the the youngest who could understand. We as a family sang over her, prayed over her and indeed wept over her. My home became a sanctuary, She went to be with Jesus dancing to a snowfall on Feb. 9, my youngest son’s birthday. The funeral was beautiful and we were allowing ourselves to really absorb what happened when my mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital the following week. Congestive heart failure….she and I spent 9 days in the hospital while my husband stayed with his Dad who has Alzheimers. On the day my Mother in law was released my mom was brought in through the ER from falling and had a concussion and had a post concussive seizure. Thankfully my sister was able to help and my aunt who is like a sister;) My mom must be monitored for 30 days, no driving, can’t be left alone. She went home with my sister. Girls, I can’t make this stuff up….there’s more….I kept telling myself two things…God does all things well….and He doesn’t sift what doesn’t need sifting (thanks Beth.) My brother and nephew had a wrong place wrong time encounter 18 months ago and their trial began while my mom was hospitalized. They told us not to worry about it the evidence was clear cut….blah blah blah…they were both found guilty. My nephew is 20, in college, never even had a traffic ticket. We are floored. Now to the good part…my youngest son leaves on mission trip…I asked God…would you do something just for him this week, speak to him this week so he knows You are FOR him. He comes home from the trip, sits at the foot of my bed tears slowly falling, and says “Mom, God has healed my heart, I feel like myself again. He’s also called me to ministry and I want to go to England, would you and Dad pray about using my car money to send me? The souls of people are more important than me having a car.” I sat in my bed an affirmed my son. When He left all I could think of was how Great is Thy Faithfulness. My circumstances have not changed, God has never been more real in the midst of grief, loss, the unknown and indescribable joy. He’s real, and He desperately loves us. Everyone who encountered our family, the hospice workers, hospital staff, kept saying we have never seen a family like this or a church like this. When we love one another there is no doubt He is real…others see it.
I grew up in a Christian home and knew the name of Jesus since I was itty bitty. Once I was married I did the Believing God study, shortly after that study I became pregnant with our first son. At 20 weeks, when we found out he was a boy, we were also made aware of some health problems. Tyler had surgery 3 times in the womb and then lived for three weeks after his birth before entering the presence of Jesus. The Lord carried me through that trying time. I was able to recite the 5 truths from Believing God with confidence over Tyler’s NICU bed. God was my ever present help in times of trouble. He has given me strength and joy in the days, months and years after Tyler’s death. He alone has given me all that I need to overcome despair, and He has brought joy, hope and purpose to my life. He is real. He has spoken His truth to me and His truth is life to me.
God became very real to me in 2010, I believe His hand was all over my life, directing my path. We chose Bible studies that fit like an intricate puzzle, that only God knew what the puzzle box top looked like and I had no idea what he had in store when the ladies voted on which study would be next – – it was all up to his perfect plan. He knew 2010 would be the year that my marriage was healed and saved and even flourished! First during Believing God I learned that “forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting, that is just means no longer acting upon what we remember”. Then in When Godly People Do UnGodly things, I learned that the enemy was setting traps for both my husband and I, he was having a field day! I began right then, telling him to back off and get under my feet! Then after completing A Heart Like His, my husband and I began praying together; we truly took on the yoke of God for the first time ever! It was a powerful year and it would not have happened if I didn’t know in my marrow he was REAL! I am grateful he isn’t finsihed with me yet, many other areas to work on!
When I finally hit rock bottom and came to the end of myself. When I found that I could not control everything, please everyone, and I was spent spiritually, emotionally and physically. When my anxiety and fear was off the charts and for the first time in my life sleep alluded me which panicked me even more, in desperation I cried out to Jesus and it was there, in His love and great mercy, that He found me and lifted me out of that pit. He put my feet on solid ground and brought me to a spacious place, giving me beauty for ashes. All that I had known and been raised with since childhood, for the first time became real for me. He is real precious ones. You can count on it and there is joy in this journey of learning what it means to live in Christ and to truly believe and walk in faith and His strength and not my own.
I John 4:16
I’m so sorry that was a novel!!!
God continues to prove Himself real to me in different seasons of my life as the great “I AM”. He has shown Himself as my Omniscient: Provider, Comforter, Counselor, Defender, Healer, Forgiver, True Intimate Friend … each season He becomes greater and more precious to me.
Often I am surprised (and shouldn’t be) how very personal He is. He speaks through every sermon, song, verse, situation; it is like a lightening bolt message from His thrown to my heart, just when I need it, with His deepest love and compassion.
I am often reminded, If He is real He deserves my everything, if not I am wasting my time, but I know my Savior Lives. I am “banking” my life on it!!
In February 2008, my husband and I found our 15-month-old baby lifeless and gray after a near drowning. In our shock, we could not remember CPR, and our futile attempts were yielding no results. Desperate, we cried out to Jesus — and I mean CRIED out to Him!–to bring baby Jim back to life. As my husband hit the floor in agony, pounding his fist against the carpet, he yelled in a voice that surprised me, “Jim, get up!” Suddenly, Jim’s eyes rolled back, then he coughed, and vomited, and he was indeed awake! God had heard our prayers and brought this boy back to life! He now is a very healthy 4-year-old with no problems, much to the amazement of doctors. God didn’t have to save him, but He did. In His grace, He showed us a tangible expression of resurrection power which continues to encourage us daily.
God is so faithful. I have been saved for 23 years. About 6 years ago I went through a very dark time in my life where I felt I had lost every friend and was losing my mind. This lasted for about 7 years. During that time God taught me to lean on Him. Today I have a joy and peace in God I never thought possible. He is so faithful and I love Him so much.
I’ve never known a time when I didn’t believe in God. But I haven’t always lived in the reality of that knowledge. God became very real and personal to me during my darkest time. I’ve wanted children for as long as I can remember and we started on that journey almost 7 years ago. I went through multiple miscarriages, each one carrying so much pain with it that I really didn’t know how I would go on. But God was right there with me, so real to me as I poured out my grief and hurt to Him. When I cried out to Him, He answered me. He heard my cry and He came to me. I’ve felt God’s comfort, peace and love in ways that go beyond understanding. I still don’t understand so many things about the “whys and hows” but I know God is faithful and worthy of my trust and praise!
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” Lamentations 3:21-23
I was raised in the church so I have always known God is real. The moment he became real to me was when my husband and I had been married about 5 years. I had been making really bad financial decisions, working FT, had 2 kids plus house payment etc. It felt like the world was closing in on me. I didn’t like my life, I didn’t like my husband. I don’t remember how I heard about the book or if someone had recommended it but I began reading The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartin. What a turn around. I knew that only God would be able to save what I was determined not to lose. I love how Stormie begins the prayers with praying for your husband’s wife. If you truly want your circumstances to change or your attitude about them to change, you have to begin with yourself and God. As you turn your hurts, emotions, circumstances, decisions, everything over to him, He will take care of the details. Praise God, He never let me go even when I would push back and think I could hide from him. Even when I knew I was off track, I could feel his presence with me. I love him for that!
I was always raised in church but it was not until after the rebellion stage in the the late teen years and coming back to Christ four years ago have I realized just how REAL GOD is! I was married in September 2009 and since then I have been in a real dessert. Not only the struggles of being newly married but having inlaws that are VERY hard to love especially one in particular. I have been in every “LOVE” bible study by you Beth I can and have clung tight to the word of God. I have been prayed for and our lifegroup prays for me that I will not hate this person and that I will be able to show love like Christ loves us. Oh yes and after a lot of Christian counseling which I strongly recommend! Some things were done to me by my inlaws that could be considered unforgiveable and just down right mean.
Last week I had a break through and saw my husband’s parents and felt no hate and could have dinner with them and not get annoyed and just love them and accept them for who they are. I know God is real because I could never do that on my own…especially after all that has happened. God is definitely real and once I started really trusting Him and letting Him take over was when I could really love people well. I ask for love from Him every morning so I may be able to love others!
I know He is real because He meets me right where I am–right where I need Him. I can’t count how many times I need direction or encouragement and my Bible reading will speak to that, or a verse comes to mind (happening more often because there are more memorized verses bouncing around in there!) Most recently I was discouraged about being a stay-at-home mom for 10+ years, and what do I have to show for it? I do the same laundry, the same dishes, the same cooking, the same cleaning… (I know it is more than that and I have 3 great kids, but that is where I was at that day.) Then I read in 1 Timothy 5:9-10, that God esteems women who raise children. I needed that! This is absolutely the real deal for me!
Although I’ve had heartaches in my life as well as victories where God had made Himself known, I think there is one thing that makes God real to me every day. She is brown, furry, with 4 paws and a tail. When I’m feeling alone she curls up in my lap. When I’m sad or happy she exhibits the same emotion. She is my companion and can make me laugh like none other. I am convinced God created her just for me and I’m so thankful for this constant reminder that God loves me. This gift’s name is Abbi and although I know there are a lot of dog lovers out there, Abbi is a cat!
I am 50 years old and have known and walked with God since I was a little child of about seven. I could tell you story after story of His faithfulness and power in my life, but I will simply tell you how I know He is real right now: for the past year, we have been dealing with the grief, heartache, shame, guilt, anger, and bewilderment of having a 19-year-old prodigal daughter. It has felt, at times, like the forces of hell have shown up at our doorstep, as we have seen the devastation in our precious daughter’s life caused by Satan’s lies and schemes. How do I know God is real? Because I am still standing, and so is the rest of my family — my husband and 3 other daughters. The presence of the Holy Spirit has given us comfort and guidance, His living Word has filled us with hope, and the mighty, overwhelming, lavish love of God has gone from being a neat idea to our daily reality and sustenance. I know that God loves my Katie even more than I do (an amazing thought for a mom to grasp!), and that His heart aches for her more than mine does. When I weep, He is there, drinking deeply of my sorrow, and then He dries my tears and sets me back on my feet. I have NEVER been more convinced of His sovereignty, His mercy, His goodness, or His love in my life and the life of my daughter. HE IS REAL!
Lisa, keep trusting in the Lord! I WAS that prodigal daughter, determined to do things the way I wanted to do them, to the despair and grief of my parents. I was the last person people would ever think would be saved..yet when I was 25 the Lord gave me a new heart and though I wasn’t instantaneously transformed, bit by bit he changed my life now I can look back and see that I am a completely new creation, no one who met me in the last 5 years or so even believes me when I tell them who I used to be. God listens to every prayer and sees every tear. Praying for your Katie. =)
I know He is for real and I knew for sure when He didn’t let go of me during a time of backsliding…when I came back the old testament came alive and I was Jacob, wrestling with the angel of the Lord…I was Peter who had denied His Lord and Jesus had prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail and when he returned encourage the brothers (Luke 22:32)and then a very unusual thing…I went up in a small airplane (4-seater type) and in the take off and flying and safe landing I KNEW God was in control…
I have a fear of flying. I had to fly to Wyoming (I am from NH).
I thought ok I can do this. Well, when it came time to get on the plane I could not do it. I ran off the plane crying and saying I could not do this.
Is. 41:13 I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not Fear! I am with you!
Well to make a long story short, I got on that plane and was fine. I actually enjoyed flying and even looked out the window of the plane(s). I had to take a total of 4 different planes round trip.
Our God truly does take hold of our right hand and walks us through the fear and is with us! Believe it.
I am so in love with Jesus!
I have known that God is real for many years but there are times that I don’t feel the closeness. But I have just been through a time during the last month that I have felt his closeness in a mighty way. My brother lost his battle with cancer just two weeks ago and I was able to be with him during the last weeks of his life. I had my memory verses with me and claimed those verses over and over. It was amazing that the verses that I had chosen to memorize fit our situation perfectly. He is now with the Lord and I know more completely than ever that my Lord will not forsake me but will be with me through every step of this life. Praise HIM!
I had just had my third baby (in four years). I had just finished the book of John, and decided I would start reading the Psalms starting backwards, since starting forwards always sees me leave off around the middle. Well, wouldn’t you know on the very day I was at my lowest low, full of hormones and no family around to swoop in, I got to Psalm 142 and read these verses that described my postpartum experience EXACTLY: “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me…for there is no one who acknowledges me, refuge has failed me, no one cares for my soul.” And I just crumpled, with the older kids just waking up in their cribs, and the new baby waking up AGAIN, and I felt the Holy Spirit say “I CARE.” And did I start crying with thankfulness? Of course not! I said, very petulantly, “How nice, but what I really need is someone to come over and make me dinner. Can you do THAT?!” And then the phone rang and it was a woman I hardly knew, from a Bible Study I’d just joined, asking if she could bring over a meal that night if I didn’t already have one. And when she found out that I had no meals planned, ever, because the church falls off when it’s your third baby (in four years), she organized meals from other women in the study. Can you believe it?! Usually what I think I need and what God thinks I need are not the same, but that day they were, and He was REAL.
Isn’t it nice to have something to cling to like that? For the days when He seems real but mean, or real but distant, or real but only lets the wicked prosper, etc. He is real and infinitely good.
I didn’t believe God was real, but a friend of mine challenged me to “challenge God.” I ignored her advice for a while, but one night I decided I would challenge God. “If you are real, you prove it to me,” I told him.
I started reading in the book of Job, because I remembered this story vaguely from children’s sunday school lessons. I read all 42 chapters in one night. I got angier and angier as Job’s friends ganged up on him and Job pleased for God to answer him. I kept reading to find out how God would answer. When He finally did, He blew me away. I expected something like “okay, let me explain how I was proving a point to Satan, and sorry I had to put you through that”.
What I got from God instead was this: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!” Job 38:2-5
God did not answer Job, but He answered me. He answered me with Himself. Those verses rocked my world – I knew He had answered my challenge. I have been a believer for 16 and half years, and if I ever doubt, I read those words again and God takes the doubt away.
I am experiencing it RIGHT NOW! My husband, a volunteer pastor, and I are being accused of things we didn’t do all becuase we were kind to a man going through a divorce and his (believing) wife is furious that “we are taking his side” (which we aren’t….we’re just being friends). So she is making crazy accusations….and all the while my sister in law can’t stand me and treats me as though I do not exist…..I KNOW I am being challenged because my hubby and I are FIRM, STRONG, and LOVE HIM! To the enemy…I say BRING IT ON! I know who wins!! I am tru;y experiencing a peace that surpasses all understanding.
PS….See you in FRESNO!!! 🙂
Ten years ago I became very ill with a stomach inf. and was given high dosages of antibiotics and never recovered from the severe damages to my system. I was then given more drugs, one after another eventually leading to an unecessary hysterectomy due to the side-effects of the numerous drugs. The worst was when they just threw Benzodiazepines at me because they didn’t know what to do anymore, because they will not admit the damaging effects of Pharmaceutical drugs. These Benzo’s caused physical,emotional and spychological symptoms that I never had before. This journey has been a nightmare with a great deal of suffering and the damage is still there 10 years after and it is still difficult!
God IS REAL and even through all the pain and suffering He was there for me, He revealed the truth right from the beginning and along the way. He has answered so many prayers and has proven Himself faithful over and over.
He has shown me through my suffering that millions of people are suffering from the damaging effects of Psych Drugs. I found these people through the internet, we are a community of people for the past 12 + years who offer love, support and education.
Martin Luther was obedient to God’s Word and I believe that what anybody goes through in life we are responsible to share this with others. What I have gone through, I believe in sharing it with others, some will listen and some won’t. And, many will know and believe what these drugs do and many will shake there heads & walk away…. God knows the truth!!!
He IS REAL to me because I KNOW & BELIEVE He has allowed and purposed this to happen to me and He has given me everything I need through it all. I have had everything taken away, I cannot work, I have not been the mother or wife I always thought I’d be. The simplest of life’s things are extremely diff. for me. My physical health is not good and yet I KNOW there is HOPE, it is in HIM alone. No matter what I face or anyone else faces, OUR God WILL work ALL things out for the good of those who love Him.
He created me and He is my daily bread, my strenghth, my hope, my joy, my peace and my comfort.
MY SAVIOR