The Interlude That Changed My Life

Did you ever have a time when you felt like such an absolute failure? I did. Five years ago, I was really struggling--everything I did seemed to be going wrong. The reason for this was my most important relationships, those of my family, were in tatters.

I couldn’t focus, was depressed, and incredibly anxious and fearful about the future.

One particular Saturday morning I was so distraught, walking around home sobbing tears--I was at breaking point! By sheer chance, I switched the television on and there was a TV evangelist who preached how someone could be forgiven… all I had to do was simply pray to Jesus.

I had reached what you could call ‘my rock bottom’ moment in life; I acknowledged it and had to change. I immediately got down on my knees and prayed the prayer that the TV evangelist suggested--straight after him.

You have to know, I had actively believed in God, but I hadn’t actually handed my life over to Jesus, asking him to be the Lord of my life--that I accepted his free gift of forgiveness and peace with God. My limited submission meant I had limited faith.

Praying directly to Jesus in this way proved a real turning point for me.

It is hard to explain but as soon as I finished the prayer I felt a strange peace or assurance come over me; a sort of confidence that I had done something right and this relieved the pressure and pain I was feeling so intensely.

My life after that moment was still far from perfect, and I still had a lot of grief and pain to deal with, BUT there was one real difference:

I had a solid relationship with Jesus whom I could call on at any time; I knew someone who identified with my pain, indeed I knew someone who had endured so much more pain than any human ever has or ever will.

He not only knows my pain, but he knows yours as well.