The other day in my morning Confiding Time I came across this verse:

“Come and listen, all you who fear God; 
let me tell you what he has done for me”
Psalm 66:16

It spoke to me so personally….
 it is exactly describing how I feel.
Come!
Listen!
 Let me tell you what God has done for me!

Memorial Box Monday is my way of shouting from my little corner
of the world to the people that God has entrusted me to share my life with
about all that God has done for me.

I thought today I would share why, personally,
 I am passionate about sharing the faithfulness of God
through Memorial Box Monday.

Kind of my personal story.

Boiled down to four simple words:

Because of my past.

Let me explain:
I asked Jesus into my heart when I was just four years old.
Believe it or not, I still remember the day.  I remembering sitting and sobbing
when I learned that He had died on a cross and taken my sin upon
Himself so that I could have a personal relationship with Him.
Down deep within me I understood on a very personal level exactly what that meant.
He had paid a great price for me.
He loved me.
He wanted relationship with me.
He had come to Earth to rescue me.
When it was explained to me that my sin was separating me from God,
I knew I never wanted to sin again
{which although that would be ideal, it is not reality, of course.}

Yet from that day on, all I wanted to ever do was to please Him.
And only Him.

It was then that I began to talk to Him.  Once I learned how to read, I would read my Bible.
 As a fourth grader, I remember creating in-depth Bible studies I did on my own.
Just me and my Bible and Him.

I know I’ve told you all before, but indeed life at home was painful.
I always felt an incredible amount of shame.

There was just too much shame to have friends over

And I sure didn’t want to have anyone over so they could see what
was really going on in my home.
Not a chance.

So, really, for the most part it was just Jesus and me.
Days were not easy.
But He was there with me.

Nights were even longer.

And He was right there with me.
Holding me.  Comforting me. Whispering to me.
And He never went to sleep.
When sleep, finally, would overtake me, He was wide awake watching me.
He didn’t even start to doze off once!

And I know there are people who struggle with how a righteous
God could allow bad things to happen to good people…
but I reckon it like this:
We live in a sinful, broken world.
God’s best plan was not for sin.
But man had a choice.
I know I have choices, and I do not always choose the good thing.
Lousy, sinful choices affect those around us.
I am a sinner, only saved by grace.
We all have choices.
Every single one of us.
Because God doesn’t force anyone to do anything.
Some will make good choices.
Some will make bad choices.
Each choice will affect those around them.
Sometimes the ripple effect is far-reaching.

Either way, I know, beyond any doubt, that God was working on my
behalf in spite of the pain and trauma I endured.
 I told Him to make me more like Him and He used the most
painful circumstances in my young life to make my heart tender toward others,
 to open my eyes to the hurting around me and
to understand that forgiveness is the true key to being set free.

And in the midst of the daily struggles, my relationship with Christ grew.
It is definitely part of God’s master plan to use the painful seasons of our
lives to grow our relationship with Him.
The painful {often long-lasting} seasons cannot be understated.
They produce growth, if we willing choose it.

That painful, abusive season lasted until I was 19 and finally moved out.
And every.single.day. faithful God was there.
He never left me.
He never went on vacation.
He never took a nap.
He never got mad at me and stormed off.
He never deserted me {even when I was at my worst}.
He never said mean things to me to make Himself feel better.
He never rejected me.
He never talked bad about me behind my back.
He never stopped loving me.

He was faithful.

100%

And I don’t know anyone else on this entire planet who has ever loved me like that.

Only Him.

So as I look back on all those years of loneliness, the years of torment, the years of pain,
the years of trauma, I can say unashamedly, that if it wasn’t for Him I wouldn’t be here,
nor would I be who I am today.
He is the only one who really knows what I went through, 
because He was there with me.
The entire time.
The whole way.

And for His faithful presence over my lifetime, 
I am indebted forever.

And maybe the words on a computer screen cannot adequately express the deep emotion that wells within me when I think about how faithful He has been to me.

But I will pray as I push “publish” that the mighty power of God will spread from my laptop to your computer screen to your soul so that you, too, can remember the faithfulness of God in your life…all the times He’s rescued you, protected you, provided for you and ministered to you and yours.

Because personally speaking, without Him I am nothing.

Nothing.

But knowing that the God is the Universe is my best friend?
Unbelievable.

That is where my significance comes from.
Only Him.

Write a post about how faithful He has been in your life in some way.
Maybe you’ll even want to write about how you came to have a
personal relationship with Him as well.

 Or another story.
Link it below.