Patria's Story: God Is So Gracious

My story is perhaps a little different because I was very content as an Adventist. As far as I knew, I had all the facts lined up. It was common knowledge among us that as long as we  kept the Sabbath, didn’t drink caffeine, didn’t eat meat, rejected the notion that we go to heaven when we die, and (according to My Bible Friends) didn’t take the biggest apple at the table, then we’d be all right. Actually, I wasn’t quite that adherent to the rules, but knew that before Jesus came I’d have to come pretty close. I was at least a third generation Seventh-day Adventist and well settled into the groove. 

One day, tragedy struck and as my world spun out of control, and my heart was broken, I was also confronted with the reality that the religion I had believed to be The Truth, didn’t have what I needed in this time of deepest sorrow and need.  Sadly, I had no idea that there was anything better.  For 3 years, I sank deep into a pit of despair.  The question, “Why?” reverberated so forcefully through my being that it nearly undid me. I was left feeling empty and alone. 

Mercifully, my precious Jesus didn’t leave me there.  He used a non-Adventist woman attending our church to invite me to a foundational, non-denominational Bible study. She persisted until I finally gave in and went.  The day I walked into that Bible study was the beginning of the rest of my life.  When I began attending, they worked their way thru the Bible and were up to the book of John. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1. Those words still bring tears to my eyes.  They represent the beginning of the New Covenant that Jesus inaugurated when He conquered sin and death at the Cross. “The light shines in the darkness…” John 1:5.  His Light was piercing the darkness in my soul; cutting through to my deepest, heart-wrenching, blinding need.  I began to learn foundational truths about who God is, and He began changing me from the inside out. 

Now, many years later, He has so transformed my heart, beliefs, understandings and faith that I can scarcely recognize the young woman who looked to an organization and formula for her security. God is so gracious. He will do the same for you if you will allow Him to meet you wherever you are - whoever you are- and let Him fill you up with His amazing Light and Love.  He alone is everything you will ever need.