Testimony

Back in April, I got the amazing opportunity to share about what the Lord has done in my life at one of UGA’s Campus Outreach meetings. Not long before the school year ended and the team left for Johannesburg, a sweet friend of mine mentioned that she’d actually really like to see it on the blog. On top of that, I actually got to share my testimony at the first 3D meeting we attended (3D is COJ’s weekly outreach meeting) which was a really cool privilege I never expected! Here’s what I shared, adjusted for blogging format.

Just to tell you a little bit about myself, I just finished my second year at UGA. I transferred from Berry College in my junior yeat, about two years ago, and I’m studying Music Education.

Coming to know the Lord was a process for me. I grew up as a pastor’s daughter, so I was highly exposed to Christianity my whole life. By the time I got to college, though, I was mostly living for myself, and I thought I would find happiness and satisfaction in my career. Even though I’d been around Christianity my whole life, I was questioning the existance of God, but still afraid of going to hell when I died. As a result, I was really fearful and felt guilty for the choices I was making. In hindsight, I can see just how lost and blind I was at the time. If you had asked me what grace was then, I wouldn’t have been able to give an accurate definition.

This fear and guilt led me to get involved with an investigative Bible study some girls on my hall were leading. If God were real, I wanted to make sure I was doing the right things to please him. I was so stuck though in this dichotomy of guilt and works. I would watch trashy shows on MTV with my roommate, and then I felt like I needed to let people cut in front of me the next day in the dining hall to make up for it. Eventually they asked me if I wanted to go on Summer Beach Project, so I went because that’s what Christians do.

Getting to go on this Beach Project was probably the biggest blessing in my life. I was surrounded by believers who were encouraging me to keep seeking the Lord. My room leader told me to go to the Lord in prayer every time I was doubting the existance of God. With all the teaching and studying I had been doing, the idea of Jesus was really appealing to me; I wanted him to be real so much that I was actually somewhat disciplined in begging the Lord to open my eyes. Again, now that I’m on the other side, I can see how Satan was using that doubt to harm me and prevent me from becoming one of God’s children.

I can’t point to a specific moment that it happened, but by the end of Project, I knew I had become a Christian. I was amazed by how God is consistent with Himself and knew He had to be real. Grace made sense. I could define it. It was truth that I could cling to. No amount of works and letting people cut in front of me in the dining hall could save me or make God love me, but Jesus paid for all my sins with His blood. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, because the way I came to know the Lord, I had so much joy in finally receiving salvation after praying for it for seven weeks. And it proved to me that God does hear and answer our prayers.

Now, Jesus is my Lord, and I want to submit to him in everything. Instead of focusing my life decisions and choices based on what I think will make me happy, I want to glorify God by the choices I make. I still struggle with wanting to make music the center of my life, but I know and firmly believe He’s working on me and changing the desires of my heart.

Because getting to know God’s character through the Word was such a significant part of how I became a Christian, I wanted to just sum up with a couple verses from Psalm 18:16-19: “He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”