“Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
–Proverbs 3:5-
The above verse has been my personal mantra since the night of the 3rd of December 2009 at 3am.
Growing up, I have always been a Christian, but as a young child, I failed to understand the concept of having a real relationship with the Lord. As time moved on, I reached a stage where I was not being a good Christian. During this time, I became friends with someone who needed someone to confide in. She and I became close friends, and we told each other everything. She was going through a tough time, but she always leaned on her faith. Her relationship with the Lord reignited something within me, and I found myself yearning to rediscover my relationship with the Lord. However, this was not as easy as I thought, and I continued to struggle with it…
On the last day of school, she gave me an invaluable book by my now-favourite author – Francine Rivers. The book was titled ‘Redeeming Love’, and on the inside cover, she had written that this book would give me hope that the Lord has someone special out there for me. The story is about a young girl who is sold into prostitution at the age of five, who is then saved from a brothel by a man named Michael Hosea. The story is closely linked to the story of Hosea in the Bible, and the girl soon realizes she can’t truly love Michael without the Lord. I started reading the book as soon as I got home, and twelve hours later, I was finished.
At 3 in the morning, I closed the book with tears in my eyes. When I switched my light off, I sat on my bed with my eyes closed for a few minutes. When I opened them, there was light coming from my closed curtains. I felt an immense sense of peace wash over me, and I felt the Lord’s presence so thickly around me that I had goose bumps and I was frightened.
I sat in my room just feeling the presence, letting it flow through and around me. I prayed, and the first words I said were “thank you.” That night, I had the most peaceful sleep I’d had in a long time, and I can still remember the feeling of comfort that knowing God was there brought me.
I read Redeeming Love 14 times in 2010, and I am currently reading it again. Even though the spine is worn, the pages are highlighted and I know the story backwards, I’ll never stop reading it. One day when I have children, I will pass this book down to them, and I know God will use that book to help them too.
Even though she and I are not as close as we were before, I will always be grateful to her - without her friendship and gift, I would still be as lost as I was two years ago.
Whenever things get tough or I feel far from the Lord, I remember the 3rd of December 2009. It always reminds me that the Lord is never as far as He might seem. Since that night, my life has changed forever, and I am truly humbled to realize how much the Lord has blessed me…
