I would like to walk in complete vulnerability and share one of the most important stories of my life.
I was born with a terminal sickness. This sickness, to current record, has taken more lives than cancer and ruined more lives than AIDS. I use the term sickness because when I was born, even the most professional doctors struggled to find an appropriate term. Theories ranged from all over the board. From virus, to birth defect, to complication during pregnancy. I am 22 now and to this day, there isn’t an accurate label for it (trust me, I googled it before writing this and Google is always right, right?). As a kid I would refer to this ailment as “The Darkness”. I remember being a kid and hating hospitals. I hated getting shot after shot and saw right through the cheesy paintings on the wall of Disney Characters. I remember being told about this wicked thing coursing through my bloodstream when I was only 7 years old. The weight of this burden hit like a bullet. As I grew older and began to understand The Darkness more, I only grew more bitter. I even questioned God and everything in His Bible because I was forced to live as I was. I mean, I didn’t choose it. I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was be born! I grew bitter. I grew rebellious. I grew cold.
But then, in 2014, something impossible happened. I was presented with a way out. On and Island called Coron in the Philippines, I had found what I believed to be a cure. This cure would mean no more fear for my life every single waking moment. This cure would mean no more sleepless nights fearing for my next breaths. There was only one catch, it would change me. Like literally, and figuratively, change me. None of that mattered. I was sold. I wanted out. It’s now 2017, so obviously you must know that it worked! Praise. The. LORD. It worked. I remember coming back to America from the Philippines and it’s like I was wearing new lenses looking into the same world! Greens were more green. The sky was more blue. Food tasted better and music sounded better. I had finally felt truly alive and free!!!
You see, “The Darkness” I was born with is commonly referred to with three letters: S I N. The cure I accepted in 2014 was Jesus Christ. He is the only cure for this darkness. Since I accepted Him into my life as my Lord and Savior, everything has become more clear and purposeful.
My goal in sharing this was not to deceive you. I may have two people groups reading this blog and I would like to make my purpose clear to every one. For those who do not have a relationship with God: we are all born with SIN and the only way out is through Jesus Christ. Not religion, not laws, not good works, but Jesus and him only.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” – John 14:6
Even in the dramatization of which I presented this aspect of my testimony, it is an UNDER-EXAGGERATION of the weight of sin, transformation inside of you when you accept Jesus, and workings of the Lord.
Now, to those who do have a relationship with God, I have a message for each of you. You have an amazing story to tell. One thing I get so saddened to hear is when Christians say things similar to “Oh, my testimony isn’t that great.” Whether you were saved out of a life filled with drug abuse or weak homeschooling, you have an impossible story that people need to hear! For one, what I just shared above is applicable to you as well!!! Please, we as an Christian culture must stop downplaying the impossibly magnificent workings of God. You have a story to tell. There is a world of people who need to hear it. This blog was inspired by a friend of mine named Gib St. Jean. All I did was borrow his perspective and you are more than free to do the same! Let’s keep sharing the Gospel and making our lives the most viable examples of it.
