God’s Wonderful Gift

I heard a woman named ‘Wanda’ tell her story – a powerful testimony of her faith in God helping her through a very difficult life!

           

Wanda was abandoned as a young child and grew up angry and rebellious. She lived a miserable existence, lived the life of a drug addict and alcoholic, and ended up pregnant and by herself by the time she was 19. She admitted she was miserable and alone and wanted to die. One day, at the very bottom of her life, she decided to kill herself. She walked into her apartment and gathered up the drugs she was going to use and was interrupted by the ring of her phone. She says she felt “compelled” to answer that phone, even though she did not want to talk to anyone. She picked up the phone, and one of her girlfriends said, “Wanda, I just felt like God wanted me to call you right now – are you all right?” With that, Wanda burst into tears and told her what was happening. 

 

Amazingly, the loving voice on the other end shared with her the message of God’s love and salvation, and Wanda prayed to receive Jesus as Savior! She says she immediately felt her burdens lifted, her heart was free of the pain and anger she had felt all her life, and she realized that she wanted to live!

           

Wanda began to rebuild her life, attended a good church with her friend, and began to live a very ordinary existence. But her life would not be easy: she was soon diagnosed with cancer. She had to undergo several surgeries and rounds of treatment, and she had several other health problems related to her hard life. In this challenging time, though, she met a good man who married her, they continued to attend church and get involved in missions and ministries, and she commented that God had blessed her and given her a sense of joy and inner strength she had never experienced before. It was all, she said, because of God’s wonderful gift of grace!

 

This is the sort of experience that Peter was talking about in his first letter to the early church. They were suffering for their faith and struggling just to stay alive. But instead of telling them everything would get better, he taught that their faith would give them strength and inner peace. Those early Christians had no easy answers, but because they followed Jesus, they had hope! He said it like this:  For those that are born again, they would be “protected by the power of God through faith.” (I Peter 1:5) 

          

This is the power of God, available to all who would follow Jesus. There are no guarantees of ease and comfort because of our faith. Still, there is the promise that God loves us, He will always be with us, and He will give us the strength and ability to bear up under anything this life might bring.

           

Let me encourage you to seek out this Jesus, who died for you on the cross. He can save you, lift you up, and give you hope – in this life and the life to come!

  

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Thank you for listening. We will see you next week!