It can be awfully annoying to have numerous questions with little or no answers, especially when it seems like the answers to all of these questions are the roadblock to a path you are coerced to follow. A scientific outlook on life seems reasonable enough, as it gives answers with empirical evidence.
From my lens, I have had to believe many things, with miracles as empirical evidence in this case — close friends, families and sometimes me were the usual recipients of these miracles. This evidence is usually enough until I face a personal challenge and my requests don’t tally with results. Hence, more questions come in, my faith is challenged, and I take a step back to evaluate life’s choices from the past to the present; this kept happening like a cycle until I found a lasting solution — Perfect Submission.
I was inspired to write this piece a few days ago; I came across a note I had made in my Bible some years back. It read, “If I am wise, I should give thought to my faith in God”. I cannot be 100% certain of what I was thinking about, but if I am sure of anything, it’s that my faith was challenged at the time. I knew I was not one to believe anything hook, line and sinker; I had to test all truths and the best way to start this was by studying an old book of history, the Bible.
Thankfully, I had been introduced to the Bible as a kid, so reading it was not foreign to me. However, I had to take a different approach while reading the Bible this time; I studied it to make sense of it and find the truth; starting from the New Testament, I made references to the Old Testament, some supplementary books and, of course, the internet.
It was then it all started to make sense. I gradually learned about the trinity, how important the Holy Spirit was to every Christian and their journey, and how blessed I was to have the gift of salvation. I remember reading the Bible for hours and reading some history and theological publications just to satisfy my curiosity. Around that time, I knew I had to take a U-turn in “this Jesus thing” and do better.
I was so challenged to practise God’s word in reality — I do not think I have ever enjoyed reading the Bible so much since birth; it felt like the joy of my salvation was restored, and the best term I can give to that moment is Perfect Delight.
Since my Perfect Delight moment, what has changed? A lot — I do things with full consciousness of what the Bible teaches, and I now understand how powerful my thoughts and words can be. I have also faced more challenges, but this time around, they were rather easy to overcome because I had built a solid foundation, not on my parents’ teachings or the church’s teachings but my conviction.
Overall, I am happy I took the bold step to test my faith; the quality of my life has dramatically improved!