“Free Gift”
Why am I here?
What is life about?
Is it possible to live just to die?
What good is financial success when we must die?
Many years ago, my wife and I settled down to raise a family. My wife met some great people at the church where we were married, and I believe this was the start of my receiving a “Free Gift.”
Over the years our family grew. We had four wonderful children, a fantastic marriage, financial success, and many good friends. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Even though it was good, I had many questions.
Why am I here? What is life about? Is it possible to live just to die? What good is financial success when we must die? Why do it? Why even be here? Why do I feel so confused? What is the answer? Why, when I have so much, do I have a feeling of emptiness?
For 19 years, I strongly believed that my family was the only thing that mattered, and I set out to provide for my family with everything the world had to offer. Almost everything I did was geared towards providing for my family and the generations of family to come. During this period of time, I searched high and low, trying many things, to fill the emptiness or void I felt: playing softball with the guys and drinking after the games, playing racquetball and drinking after the games, buying campers, snowmobiles, new cars, houses, etc. I tried working extra hours to make more money, buying more worldly possessions, starting a business, investing in and buying real estate, etc., etc., etc. All of these things gave me a very short-lived pleasure or happiness that would not last! It would leave as quickly as it came.
Fortunately for my family, while I was providing for their worldly life, my wife, Carla, was building the foundation for our eternal life. I have always believed there was a God, and I would occasionally pray when things were so far out of my control that I could not fix them. A couple things come to mind - like when my daughter was only weeks old and we had to put her in the hospital, and I feared for her life; when my son lay in the hospital with a staph infection; and when my wife was very sick and had an infection in her blood system - the doctor told me that my wife only had a 50/50 chance of survival. The most recent time was when a friend called for our support when his father was ill. Carla helped our friend while I stayed home with the kids.
As I laid there in bed that morning, I told God that I felt my friend’s father was still needed in this world and that there was much good he could do by teaching God’s word to people like me that still needed help. I asked God to please save my friend’s father and to give him the opportunity to help others like myself. In return, I promised to try to follow his path, starting with attending church that coming Sunday.
The following Sunday, I attended church with my wife. It was a very peaceful feeling. The people at church all seemed so happy and full of life that it made me want to return the next Sunday. As the service was ending on my second visit, I felt very relaxed and was in no hurry to leave. After searching for the answers to my earlier questions, I came to the conclusion that we could not possibly live just to die. There was no other answer or reasoning to my problems and questions other than believing in God and having enough faith to accept His Son Jesus Christ in my life, so I did!
The love I saw in all the people “hit me.” It was like nothing else I have ever felt in my life. At that time, I was not sure if it was Jesus filling the empty place in my heart or just all the love of the people reaching me. Whatever it was, I hoped it would never stop.
Looking back, I know that the Lord was with me every step of the way. The path He was leading me down was to teach me about the values of the world and temporary happiness versus complete and total joy and the values of the Lord. The Lord blessed me and my family by enabling us to make the right decisions in regard to my investments. I
have always based my decisions on what I called my “gut feeling,” but now I know it was my inner spirit leading me to worldly prosperity so that I would someday be able to testify that the things of the world are temporary and that worldly happiness will slip away very quickly. Even though I was blessed with prosperity before being blessed as a Christian, being a Christian means more to me than anything the world has to offer.
If you have any of the questions or problems I had, don’t try to weather the storm on your own. Come in out of the rain, and let the Son of God, Jesus, meet your every need. Let Him lead you and guide you, through the Holy Spirit, from now to eternity. Since the writing of this testimony, the empty place in my heart has been filled with the Love of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God our Father.
In 1990 I had to quit my job of almost 20 years due to a rare blood disease. The doctors did not know what caused it and said they could do nothing for me. In January of 1994 the Lord told me He was going to heal me of that rare blood disease. In March of 1994, I took the same blood test that had led to the diagnosis that I had the rare disease. This time the results were negative! My blood had been cleansed by the Blood of My Savior. By His stripes, I was healed. Praise God! God can meet your every need and will if you do your part. I urge you to read God’s word daily, pray daily, and praise the Lord’s name daily.
“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7
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