Many people know me by the name Mike, Schultzy, Ruud, Tad, Reindeer, and maybe even Russell. However, my real name is Michael. Michael the archangel is my namesake, which was the hope my parents had that I should be. Interestingly enough, in Hebrew Michael means "who is like God", which is interpreted as a rhetorical question: "Who is like God?". This question is posed to imply that no one is like God. Therefore, the name Michael is reinterpreted as a symbol of humility before God.
Having humility before God sums up my entire existence. God orchestrates the trials of each of our lives, so that we learn how great our need is for Him. The Lord patiently waited 20 years for me to come to truly know Him and humble myself before Him. I finally found the Lord when I had no one else to turn to for answers to life's deepest questions. God was the only one bold enough to have answers to the questions I had about life. Questions like, "Why do loved ones commit suicide?" "Why do I exist?" "What is the purpose of life?" "Why do I continue to wake up every day?" "What is the point of pursuing wealth, fame, acceptance, when none of it will matter after I die?". Because God is who He says He is, He already claimed a purpose for my life. I found out this Truth, because I was at the end of myself; and only at such an end to ones' self, are they ready to hear and believe Truth. I found Truth when the Lord directed me to Scripture, His Word, where He told me who He was, who I was, and how He has a plan for my life. He told me how His plan is perfect – the best – not mediocre or boring. He told me that He's been in control this whole time, so that I would come to know Him. The God of the universe was pursuing me.
The most powerful Truth about the crisis I was in, is that I was finally aware of my brokenness and need for God. So, after I understood that Truth, God told me I had a choice. I could choose to either follow Him or continue to go my own way. I already knew what my own way meant; I had been living it for 20 years and it had brought me to the lowest, most broken state I had ever known. My own way was completely boring, pointless, aimless, and destined for eternal separation from the One True Lover of my Soul, God Almighty, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. So, I decided to follow the Great Pursuer of Man. In the name of Jesus Christ, I asked God to forgive my sins that were brought about by a life lived in hostility towards God. I repented, admitting my own ways are wrong, and that His ways are right. I continued to pray that my plans for my own life would be exchanged for God's plan for my life.
Oh! how I felt safe for the first time in my life! Oh! how the weight of all my sins were lifted from my shoulders, from that very moment of prayer on! Oh! the comfort of knowing that my sacrifice had been accepted by God, and that I was in communion with Him from that time onward for ever and ever, into eternity. Oh! the realization that Jesus Christ – God Almighty in human flesh – died on the cross as a payment for the sins of mankind, and not just for mankind, but for me included! Oh! how words cannot describe the reality of the lifting of the weight of all my sin, all my burdens, all my anxieties, all my fear, all my confusion, not only from all of my past, but from the present, and all the future. The Holy Spirit came upon my heart and comforted me with all these Truths, because I had claimed them for myself. From that moment on, Satan and his forces of evil would never again have a stronghold in my life. I was a new creation, claimed and protected by God, for His to use to bring more people into this same sort of relationship with Him.
Life finally made sense. I felt no burdens about what to do, or where to go, because I knew God leads the humble. I was beginning to understand what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. And although life's difficulties still sprung upon me, I knew there wasn't anything that God and I couldn't handle together, since He is in control of everything – even the bad, the tough, and the ugly stuff.
"The wildest part is that Jesus doesn't have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn't need me or you. Yet He wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (Ephesians 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us."
-Francis Chan (Crazy Love)
My prayer is that the LORD uses my life's story to bring the lost people to know Him, and to increase the faith of those who love Him; so that His name be glorified forever and ever. Amen.
-Mike Schultz
