Pleased With Life – Magda

I am and have always been an absolutely “normal” woman. No extravagances, eccentricities or vagaries. How could God reach a well-behaved person who believes she has everything she might possibly need?

The camp of “the year 0” is a special event that gathers a group of insecure, “skulked” novices who don’t know each other. To their surprise, they’ve just been accepted into college to study at the extremely popular faculty of their dreams, and now they go to the mountains to catch their breath and to learn from their older college brethren how to survive the next few years of studies. One of those novices was boring and monothematic – during the eight-hour train ride he kept talking only about God. Unfortunately, others were asleep and I had nowhere to go. The next day he was a little bit more silent, carrying his backpack and walking up the mountain track. He also proved to be a nice guy – this and a couple of additional “circumstances” caused us to spend together some more time and to talk to each other more often.

After the camp I thought that if I was to rationally estimate all of the things I had learned about the living God who can work in people’s lives here and now, I necessarily had to find some other source of information. I needed confirmation from others as I got deeply emotionally involved with my first “informer.” God watched over us and we both found ourselves in a Bible group where we would read passages from the Bible and discuss their meaning and application in daily life. To me, the most important thing was a possibility to directly confront the biblical theory with the real life practice of those who attended the meetings. Do their words match the way they live? Is it possible to live in the 20th century according to what the Bible teaches you?

I was afraid that someone tried to manipulate me. That is why it was it was very helpful for me to read a passage from the Bible about the converted Jews. After they had accepted the gospel preached to them by Paul, they checked in their Scriptures if Paul was telling the truth. I could do the same – to check if the things I heard at the meetings were consistent with the Holy Bible.

Finally I was convinced that the living God really existed, and I was given a sufficient number of arguments for the fact that Jesus Christ really had lived and died FOR ME. But then I had to decide whom I wanted to follow. The barrier that stopped me was a necessity to give control over my life to God. I didn’t quite know the real, biblical God; I didn’t trust Him and I was afraid to let Him take the helm of my life. “What if He took away the guy I’m so happy with?” – I asked myself.

On one hand – a jump into the darkness; on the other – Jesus Christ died for me. It wasn’t easy, and yet He gave His life so I could get cleansed and live at God’s side. The motive of God’s actions was always His love for me. I realized that God who loved me so much, was the only one I could really trust and who indeed was trustworthy.

I’ve never regretted the decision, although since I’ve given up the control of my life, it is no longer peaceful, well-ordered and one-track. God has made me face challenges exceeding my knowledge, wisdom or experience, and then has been guiding me step by step to victory. Every day I can see things that surprise me and I receive presents, but I also have to make an extra step, going further than I wish or dare to go. My life is exciting, full of adventures, rich and much more complete than I would dare to plan. I’ve got my own motorcycle, four children, and a house. I’ve graduated from three college faculties, I teach in a Sunday school, I work in a church bookstore, I have a professional carrier and my husband runs his own company. What a wonderful life!

I wish every one of you could experience such an adventure with God! Or even a greater one. :)