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I grew up in central Michigan in a stable and secure family with wonderful loving parents. We attended a large church on Sundays and prayed before meals. I was taught if you were good you went to heaven, and believed for the most part people were basically good (some just had bad breaks). I had grown to believe very soundly in "The American Dream" - if you worked hard you could have anything or become anything you wanted. It made sense to me, as a young boy I thought for the most part I had it all. As I was entering the 5th grade, everything in my secure little world suddenly and abruptly changed. My father (my very best friend) - tragically drowned in a duck hunting accident. He was lost in Lake Erie along with another friend for an entire month before being found washed up on Canadian shores. At first, many people made attempts to visit us and to encourage us. But one by one they all did the same thing. They all disappeared! In time there was no one - no calls, no encouragement, no assistance. Personally I found it very devastating. It was very hard to understand. Though I didn't realize it until years later, the loneliness and devastation I was experiencing set me on an earnest search to restore meaning to my life. Still believing in The American Dream, I blindly began pursuing all sorts of things. But nothing I did or sought after brought me any lasting fulfillment. Everything ended the same way, leaving me either rejected, disappointed, or hungering for more. The American Dream I had bought into wasn't working for me! In fact, I found myself becoming a slave to unfulfilling appetites and increasingly carried around a burden of guilt over my lifestyle and disintegrating values. I’ll always be grateful to the Lord for His persistence during those turbulent years of my life because ever so often He would send someone into my life that seemed to have that something I was looking for. These were people who happened to talk about Jesus in a way I wasn't comfortable with. They seemed at peace and victorious in their lives and alive in a way I couldn't pinpoint but certainly could recognize. Ironic as it may sound, I tried to avoid these people thinking they must be fanatics of some sort. After all, I was the normal person! Chasing The American Dream was what life was supposed to be about. That's what I was taught - that's what I believed! But as hard as I would try to avoid these people I would run into another one, and each time it would impact me a little further. By the time I was in my mid 20's I had run into a number of these people. I began to consider it might be something more than mere coincidence. I decided to go to church (I had stopped for a number of years) and began reading the Bible. It was around this time that I heard an evangelist on television named Billy Graham. I had heard of Billy Graham before but never had the opportunity to listen to him, so I decided I would listen to what he had to say. As I did, all the pieces began to fit together. For the first time in my life I heard a clearly articulated message about who Jesus Christ was and what that meant for me personally. Dr. Graham said we were created to be in fellowship with God and could only find true fulfillment in a right relationship with God. He then went on to say that all people had a significant problem, because all were guilty of breaking God's laws. I had no trouble acknowledging that truth in my life. It was the source of the guilt I carried. He went on to say that breaking God's laws eternally separated us from fellowship with God. As I listened, I knew that's what was missing in my life - I was separated from God! He then went on to explain that God, out of His great love, had provided the way to have that severed relationship restored. That's what Jesus Christ came to do! God sent His only Son to die on a cross in my place and for my disobedience. I realized then, that even if I were the only person alive that day, Jesus would have still come to die on the cross just for me. It was something personal! A lot of people had abandoned me in my life, but Jesus never did. As I pondered these truths, I was cut to the heart and began to cry as I realized that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and He really did rise from the dead victorious over the grave so I could be forgiven for everything I had ever done wrong and be restored in my relationship with Almighty God. God was where my fulfillment and peace would come from. Dr. Graham said I needed to acknowledge my disobedience to God, turn from it, and ask Jesus to come into my life as my Savior and Lord. That day I asked Jesus Christ to take over my life. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." John 1:12 I felt as if a large weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Over the next couple of years my life slowly began to change as I increasingly studied the Bible, got more involved in a good church, and continued to surrender more of my life over to Christ. God was giving me a whole new set of priorities to live by. I increasingly found my life was no longer lacking significance or purpose, and I wasn't lonely any longer. I found myself to be finally at peace and more and more saw my life as being victorious because of Jesus, even in the midst of some troubled times that would come into my life again within a few years. But this time when they did, I had the Lord to go through them with me. It made all the difference in the world! I found that I handled things differently now. I had become a new person just as the Bible says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 But the greatest thing of all is that I now have a personal relationship with God, and I know I have the gift of eternal life. I owe it all to Jesus who is my Savior, and Lord of my life. I had thought everyone abandoned me - but God never did! Click HERE to return to the edited story Click HERE to create a banner that links to this story! Your e-mail address will be kept private!
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