2 Corinthians 4:6-7 - King James Version
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
I was recently asked if I know or remember the times when God Almighty has his hand squarely on my life and when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
That got me to do some serious soul-searching.To answer the second part first - although I've had God and Jesus as part of my life since before I was born, I was 'confirmed' into my church when I was 13. I remember that time as if it were yesterday. I spent the previous year in Confirmation Classes with about ten other children. We were all excited about the event where we could finally present ourselves to the congregation as 'Confirmed' followers of Jesus.
I remember going shopping with my mother for just the right material to make my confirmation dress. We chose a beautiful shiny white (naturally) embroidered organza for the dress and white satin for the full petticoat. The dress pattern that we chose was probably exactly this one and the white dress was the one that I made. I was so very proud that day to confirm that Jesus is My Lord and Saviour.
Of course as happens, life took place and our family moved from Johannesburg back down to Durban North where I joined and was active in a new church. I was always excited to move but, for a very shy child, it had its drawbacks. I found it difficult to make friends and still do. I always felt that I was on the periphery of our church activities even though I was so involved.
My father was the Operations Manager of a large manufacturing firm and, because of his chemical engineering background, he often needed to trouble-shoot and he moved to branches where manufacturing issues appeared to be unsolveable. That meant that we rarely lived in one place for longer than four or five years, sometimes less.
Just before I began my university years, my parents moved again. This time to Zambia.
There I was, in a university residence with about a hundred other girls and on my own for the first time in my life. There was so much happening and so many different experiences that I admit to backsliding and questioning everything about my faith. I didn't even make any attempt to find a church and that was certainly a big reason for my lapse.
That episode lasted a few years but, as we're told in God's Word:
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
To be honest, even during those wild, undisciplined times, God's hand was on me. It's only now, looking back, that I realise how much.
I think that this is going to be longer than I thought it would. I'll continue very soon on another Sunday by going back to before I was even born.
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