What's God Ever Done For Me? - Gill

As a child I was forced to go to Sunday school with my sisters up until the age of 12 as that was the age my parents had determined as appropriate for us to be independent enough to make up our own minds as to whether we should continue with church attendance or not. My sisters and I all believed that enforced Sunday school attendance was a convenient way for my parents to have a break from having children around during a Sunday afternoon and for this reason were determined to thwart their plan.

 

Once the golden age of 12 had been and gone; quite naturally teenage interests took a hold and churchgoing ceased but a genuine belief in God remained dormant within both me and my sisters.

 

Some years later when my eldest child was born I enquired at my parish church, St Erkenwald’s about baptism for her and the vicar asked me and my husband to attend a weekly course. Rather reluctantly I attended this course and church services.

 

Week by week the content of this course became more interesting and I found the church services more inviting as I began to speak to and make friends with the people around me. I quickly realised through the teaching I was receiving and subsequent discussion that my relationship with God was not all about “doing good works and deeds” but building an ongoing dialogue and friendship with someone that I would walk through life with both now and for eternity.

 

Part of the early teaching I received, and in fact is still quite rightly the subject of regular teaching was related to prayer, I started to pray regularly for assistance in living a Christian lifestyle and made requests for healing and support in making decisions in my life. I prayed too that I should not worry over problems as I was being taught that to worry was wrong – give everything to the Lord and he will take care of it all.

 

I was at first cynical about this aspect of Christian life but when I commenced on this life changing pattern nothing could prepare me for what would happen. I felt good – I wasn’t being worn down by worrying! I would attend meetings to discuss issues affecting my children’s life and pray beforehand and found myself sitting in the middle of what could accurately be described as a “lion’s den” with people baying for my blood and feel confident in what I said. The sentences emanating from my mouth were incredible – I couldn’t have composed them without divine help and the written statements I supplied as a petition for my cause were composed with such fluency but structured in a way that was not my usual writing style. I won, with divine support, fierce battles with adversaries that were clever but none of these people were a match for God.

 

Even more amazing was not only the defeat of what I could describe as my enemies but their complete removal in a variety of really strange ways out of mine and my family’s life! These events have always filled me with total awe as to God’s power – the mysterious ways in which he moves and how one should always expect the unexpected and be amazed!

 

What God has done for me is so vast and life changing that there is never enough space or time available to contain it all. God is always there for me and you too if you ask him to join you. He is my guide, friend and supporter as I walk through life. He really does fulfill my every need if I ask and usually in unexpected ways in His own time – not mine. God will do this for anyone who asks – I am convinced of that and I would encourage anyone who is reading this to “Pray and do not give up”!