Narrow Road Travels
Lisa Jones
I have been involved in church my whole life. My parents took me to the local church every Sunday while I was growing up. Our church was a small country church. I learned to be a good person and to do the right thing. But somehow I felt that there should be more. My life was still missing something. Every Sunday I went and every Sunday I when back home longing for more. When I was 18 I left home and went to college at a christian college. There I met some friends that taught me that there is more. I could feel whole and complete. I needed to confess my sins before God and to understand and believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins. No one can be good enough to get into heaven. We all sin. It is in our imperfect nature. We don't want to, but it happens. We all slip up sometimes. No human can be perfect. God made us that way so that we would rely on Him and not on ourselves. One of my biggest struggles was (and still is) admitting that I am not perfect, admitting that I do not always know best. I struggle with pride all the time. But I know that when I try to handle everything and not let God have control that things don't usually go right. When I don't give my finances to the Lord to control, then I always come up short at the end of the month.
Okay, back to my story. So during my freshman year of college I finally admitted to God and to myself that I needed Him in my life and that I asked Him take control. After my freshman I moved back home and attended the local community college. I eventually got my own apartment. After graduating from the local community college, I decided to take some time off from school and decide what I really wanted to do with my life.
All of this time, eventhought I had gotten saved when I was 18, I was not spending time with God. I was still living my life for me and not for God. I finally met someone and got married. He taught that there was even more to being a Christian than just being saved. Being saved will get you to heaven; believing and accepting Jesus is the only thing that will get you to heaven, but it doesn't teach you about life. You really have to have a personal relationship with Him. You have to study His word and spend time in prayer. And the more you do this you will learn how to hear God and what His will is for your life.
Eventhought I saw in the lives of my in-laws how God can work in a person's life. I was still holding on to my pride. Because of this I ended up getting a divorce. Because I was being so selfish and determined, God had to allow tragedy in my life to break me down to the place where I had no other options but to turn to Him and give Him the control.
It has been only a few years now since I have been living fully for the Lord and I still struggle every day with my pride, but I now have joy and peace in my life like I have never felt before.
If you feel like you want more out of life, there is more. There is life in the loving arms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you feel a tug in you heart right now just call out to God. He will come to you. If you don't know what to say this is okay, he knows what is in your heart. Just tell Him how you feel. Tell Him that you know you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sins and ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to come into your life and take control.
If you don't feel ready to talk to God just yet, that's okay. Don't take my word about Him check Him out for yourself, grab a Bible and read about Him. See what he is all about. You might want to start with the Book of John.