I heard about a non-believer trying to taunt a believer by asking, “So someone told you about God and you just believed them?” I think, for most believers that is the way our faith began. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” For many, all it takes is hearing, others, like Josh McDowell, need to investigate the evidence further before believing. My own experience is a combination of hearing, testing, and investigation.
I was born into a family of an Evangelical United Brethren pastor so I grew up with a drug problem. I was drug to church almost every time it was open. By the time I graduated from high school I knew every Sunday School answer to any question about our faith, but I didn’t have it in my heart.
Shortly after leaving home I turned away from the church and the faith I had been raised with to search for my own pleasures without a lot of moral restrictions. It took me a long time to find out that those pleasures I was seeking were fleeting and gave me no lasting satisfaction.
Several years before my dad’s retirement, a couple from one of the churches he served gave my parents 10 acres of land on which they could build their retirement home. Since I fancy myself as a fair carpenter, having done all my own home remodeling projects myself, I decided that when the time came, I wanted to help build that house.
I believe it was the summer of 1980 when that project began. I took 30 days of leave from the Air Force, left my wife and children in Mississippi and drove to Michigan to help build that house. While I was there my mother told several stories about all the problems she had trying to get that project going.
My mother had never worked as or for a general contractor so she had no idea what was involved in getting a project like that going. She eventually found out about getting plans, financing, permits, hiring a builder, finding someone to drill a well, etc. As she worked on these tasks, she often ran into road blocks. Every time she came to what seemed like a dead-end she prayed about it and one way or another she got an answer.
After my 30 days were up, as I was driving back to Mississippi, I started thinking about my life. That project had been for many years the only real goal I had. Now that it was completed, I felt a lot like a ship without a rudder. Then I started thinking about my mother’s stories and realized I wanted the same kind of direction for my life that she had.
That was when I got serious about my faith and asked Jesus to really be Lord of my life. As soon as I made that decision, I thought I should start attending church but I really didn’t want to be going alone, so I asked the Lord to help me convince my wife to start going to church with me.
As soon as I got home and said hello to my wife she said, “Honey, I think we need to start going to church.” Now that is an answer to prayer. God has continued to answer my prayers and to provide all the direction I need for my life when I need it.
Yes, I heard about faith as I was growing up but didn’t take it to heart until after I had tested living without it and found that ultimately unsatisfying. My real satisfaction came only when I stopped trying to run away from God and asked Him to live in my heart.