I was like others in today’s world–I was living for the moment which always left me feeling empty or without a purpose for life. I often wondered if life was supposed to feel this way. My thoughts were that getting a college education would help me find the meaning for my life. However, I made a bad decision while I was in college – I joined a fraternity thinking this would fill the void I felt. This mistake only led further away from finding answers I was seeking. Weekends were filled with partying and drinking which resulted in a car accident after one of these weekends. I was driving while intoxicated. It is a truly a miracle I survived. I went into respiratory arrest on the way to the hospital. At the hospital I spent a week in ICU in a coma. Learning again how to walk was challenge. But, through weeks of rehab and my determination, I managed to reacquire this ability. I had to lay out of college for a year before I was well enough to go back.
Upon returning to college, I met a woman who changed my life forever. Spending time with her was always a great pleasure. We talked and laughed together, and I became attracted to her. She exuded a joy and contentment with life that was contagious. I wanted to have what she had in my life. I asked her what I could I do to live the kind of life she was living. She said it is all found in a relationship with Jesus. Going to church with her was always uplifting which only increased my curiosity of this relationship with Jesus she had told me about. I was still not sure, because I hadn’t grown up going to church like she had. I still had questions—who is this Jesus? Why should I give my life to Him? What are the benefits of doing so? Between attending church and spending time with her, I found answers to these and other questions I had. Now it was time to decide. Would I continue living my life for myself or would I surrender it to Jesus? Moved by the message one Sunday I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Not yet realizing it, this was most pivotal decision I had made and ever will make for my life. Giving up control and following Christ profoundly changed me for the better. The change was not immediate, but it gave me hope. Jesus was now a part of me and my decisions. Anxiety over what laid ahead in my life was no longer a factor for me.
This lady who had taken time to share Jesus with me became my wife. At the time of composing this message for you, we have been married 32 years. It has not been always a bed of roses. But, with Jesus being as the leader of our family, we know that even in the storms we will survive because of the hope and joy He has given us. Our hope is not only for this earthly life but the promise of the heavenly life with Him forever.
Where is your hope? Mine is found in Jesus Christ.