This is the story I wrote for the hard things contest last year!
My hard things story is really
how I changed from not having a real relationship with God to having one. I
come from a Christian home, I am home schooled. When I was 11 years old I went
to camp for the first time. The leaders talk about having a relationship with
God. God was trying to win me over to him, even though I had been saved when I
was 3 or 4. I had not been living for God, there were times when I felt closer
to God, but I just did not have a relationship with him at that point in my
life. It brought me closer to God for a little while but, then I went away from
God instead of getting closer to him and growing in my Christian walk. It was
the same for the next few years. When I was at camp, I could hear God talking
to me. He wanted me to change to live in me. To me it seemed that I was not
saved, when they ask us if we wanted to talk to the adults about it. I felt as
though I was being called to go and talk to them about it, but I didn’t I was
too afraid to do that. My mind was telling me that I was fine, I was saved. But
really I did need to go and talk with them about it. So each year when I came
back from camp felling a bit closer to God for a few weeks and then going back
to be old self. From I was about 10 I started doing quiet time I used to rush
thought it without thinking about it. I did not do it every day maybe 2-3 times
a week.
Things seem to get worse for me.
I started not doing my school work on the computer. I started to look at some things online I
shouldn’t have been looking at. Some weeks I did not even do my Quiet Time
once. Then about a year ago my grandma died. At her funeral the man who took it
preached a good gospel message it really spoke to me. A few weeks later I prayed
a pray that changed my life. I told God I was sorry for the way I had been
going. From then on things began to change. Nothing happen straight away but
slowly things changed for me. I did my quiet time more, I did my school work
and I stopped, looking at things online, I should not been looking at.
At camp I felt different. No more did I feel
like I was not saved. God was doing a work in my life that week like he had
never done before. After camp I went
back home feeling like I could still spend more time with God. Before camp I
hadn’t been doing my quiet time every day, but after camp I started doing my
quiet time even more. I found that when I missed a day things did not go right
that day, it was almost like I had gone back to when I had not been doing it.
So I tried even harder. I found it is best for me to do my quiet time before
bed. If I know that we are going out for the evening I do it before we go
out. On New Year’s Eve, We were going
out to see friends that evening but somehow I forgot to do it before we left.
We stayed at their house until about eleven thirty and then left. We stopped on
the way home to see the fireworks and see the New Year in. We got home about
one o clock in the morning. I went in and got ready for bed and then did my
quiet time I stayed up to about two o clock that night. If you really want to
do something you can always make time. So if you really want to make time for
God you can.
I started getting
to know God last year but this year, I have felt really close to God. Me and my
brother started a blog this year, before that I had never done any writing
about Christian things. I read Do Hard Things and Start Here this year, they
are two of the best books I have ever read.
That’s my hard things story. I haven’t done anything big for God, but I
got to know God in the last year and that’s the best thing that could ever
happen to me!
Nathan Jukes 15 Cornwall UK.