IS THERE A GOD?

"Growing up, I declared myself an atheist".   

Since primary school, I have been fascinated by intelligence (Proverbs 3:5-6). As I grew up, I declared myself an atheist. I despised those who believed in God, because intelligent people don't need God, do they?

At high school, I was babysitting for a young couple of brilliant doctors and I was amazed to discover that they believed in God. They encouraged me to read the Bible. I was reluctant, but I thought I should read the best-selling book of all time.

On their advice, I started with the book of proverbs. To my surprise, the pages were full of wisdom. Although I'd never heard a voice, I felt a strange sensation of being called out. It was unsettling and mysteriously attractive. I wondered if there really could be a God.

But perhaps my culture - in which most people were Christian or Jewish - conditioned me to find Christianity attractive? So I studied Buddhism, Hinduism and several other religions. I visited temples, synagogues, mosques and other holy places, with the desire to be done with this subject of God as soon as possible. But a battle raged within me. I wanted to spend more and more time with the God of the Bible, and at the same time I wanted to stop thinking about these subjects (Proverbs 8:17). I didn't want to believe in God, but I still felt a special sense of his love and presence.

I called myself an atheist, but I read the Bible.

In my first year at university, a student invited me to a Christian meeting. There, the preacher asked two questions: "Do you know there's a big difference between believing there's a God and following God?" and he added: "Who do you follow? Who is the Lord of your life?" I was intrigued. Was it possible that God really wanted to guide me?

That evening I prayed for the first time in my life, but I was still full of doubts. I asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life.

In the days that followed, my world changed dramatically, as if a flat, black-and-white existence had suddenly become full of colour and three-dimensional.

It's like forgetting a part in a mechanical assembly: it doesn't work properly. But if you add the missing part, everything works perfectly. That's how I felt when I handed my life over to God. I thought it had worked well up to now, but after being 'fixed', it worked 'exponentially' better! That's not to say that nothing bad has ever happened to me since the day of my conversion - far from it. But in all circumstances I can count on God's guidance, support and protection (John 8:12).

I used to think I was too clever to believe in God. Now I know I was arrogant and stupid to ignore Jesus, the Creator of the universe. And I want to walk with Him, humbly.

Rosalind (source : La bonne semence 2022)