My Testimony

January 16, 1972, at age 27, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my savior. Based on John 6:44 the Holy Spirit drew me unto salvation. I followed the Lord in baptism in obedience to His word.

“No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up, at the last day.” John 6:44.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Psalms 40:1-3

One may ask, since salvation, have you always walked in the path of righteousness? I wish with all my heart, I could answer in the affirmative, but I can’t. I can say, I am His child, and He has promised to keep me until the day of redemption.

I can also attest to the fact that Christ disciplines His children because He loves them. This, He has done in my life.

My heart breaks, as I look back on the consequence of my unfaithfulness and the scars on my testimony as I reflect on the suffering my children experienced because of my sin. There is nothing more excruciating than kid pain. There is nothing I can do to change the consequences of the past but ask for their forgiveness which I have done and pray God will heal their pain. I do know, I stand before my Lord forgiven.

I do believe according to His word “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”. He has cast my sins as far as the east is to the west and remembers them no more. He blots out my transgressions for my sake and He will not remember my sins. I John 1:9, Psa. 103:12, Isa. 43:23,25.

There wasn’t a missionary conference I attended that my heart wasn’t broken for reaching others for Christ and many tears were shed as I knelt at the altar responding to Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Hear I am Lord send me.”

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-12)

God’s word tells us to “Delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our heart” Psa. 37:4.

I am sharing with you the desire God placed in my heart some 52 years ago. Shortly after salvation, my heart was burden to serve God as a long-term missionary. The desire God placed in my heart is as real today as it was in my early Christian Walk. I may not be able to go on a long-term basis at this stage in my life, but as long as I have breath, I will be a missionary in whatever capacity my Lord allows.

I have held God’s promises found in Psa. 37:4 and in Jeremiah 29:11-12 close to my heart all these years, and now I am stepping out in faith to walk through the open door He has provided.

Sharon Douglas