I knew God was real when...

Hey Guys, my friend Adrienne shared a great story on the Big Spender Stories Facebook page. I thought I would share it with all of you.

There have been many times when I knew God was real. I have been fortunate that way. But, the flip side of that coin is that I have also had to go through a lot of things to get me to the point that I could see what God was doing for, to and with me.

The time I am sharing here is when I finally understood that this journey begins with a very personal recognition and proclamation. See, I too grew up Catholic, and although I am not putting down the faith, I think that you sometimes miss that this walk with God is on a first name basis. It is a personal relationship, that you are called to share. It is not a generic God saving a generic world through a single act of crucifiction. I never questioned God, I never questioned Jesus, who He was or what He did. I never doubted that Heaven was real, Jesus would come back, Mary was a virgin, nor did I question the reality of Satan and hell. I knew these things were as true as the air I was breathing, but I also didn't get that whole "need to be born again" thing. I always thought that was for the people who didn't even know about Jesus. You see, I looked at it from the stand point that Jesus died for the sins of the world, which meant that whether I was here or not He would have died the same death for the same reason, when in reality, the truth I needed to see was that Jesus dies for the sins of Adrienne, and if I was the only one in the world he would have still done it. That my lies crowned his head, that my hatred drove the nails through his hands, that my greed nailed His feet to the tree. My life, my sins, my evil flesh did this to Him.

When that realization hit me, I for the first time, looked up and called upon the name of Jesus, I said it with the love and familiarity of a beloved friend, a family member, and I realized that when He called my name He knew me just as well. The knowledge of how I lived my life, what I had done to Him, who I really was and just what He died for hit me so hard that I had to pull the car off the side of the road until I could regain composure.

I wish I could say that I have gotten it right since then, but that would be a lie. But I can tell you that from that day forward, I have been walking a different path. Sometimes I get confused and step off, but thankfully my God is always there to grab me by the head and put me back on the path. ... Admittedly it is easier when I am listening to Him though. But then I would only have a short testimony, and well people like me don't have short testimonies.

So that is my first story of When I knew God was Real.