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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Anniversary (04/11/05)
My first year as a Christian was the worst year of my life. Without offering any details, I suffered losses in almost all aspects of my life. Although I suffered some of these losses before, they never happened to me all in the same year.

My suffering was far from what I expected when I became a Christian. I chose Christianity because I was happy with my life. Although I worked hard for my happiness, I knew I was also fortunate. I suspected that God was the source of this fortune. As a result, I was grateful for everything in my life. To show how grateful I was, I became a Christian.

During my first days as a Christian, my friends told me that I had a lot to learn. They also said it would not be easy. However, no one told me that God would test me so severely. I wasn't prepared.

With all the terrible things that happened to me, I lost both my happiness and luck. I replaced them with anger, fear, and doubt. I couldn't help but blame God. Predictably, I almost gave up my Christianity.

However, I held on to God. To survive the storm, I kept telling myself that both Job and Jesus suffered much more than I did. Job lost almost everything he had, whereas Jesus suffered the awful death on the cross. Surely, if these great Biblical figures could stay with God despite these horrible experiences, I can do the same.

Then I thought about how I had committed myself to God. To me, becoming a Christian is like making a marriage vow: I entered the relationship for better or for worse. Personally, I have always viewed divorce to be tragic, yet here I was on the verge of breaking the most important commitment I could make.

I needed to show my faith in God. He always showed his faith in me. So I exercised what remained of my faith. And here I am now, in my third year as a Christian. Despite that awful first year, my life is slowly improving, and I'm glad to say that my commitment to God continues to grow stronger.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Lynne Gaunt
04/18/05
Hang in there!
Satan is hard at work to derail you. You weren't a threat to him until you became a Christian! As the disciples did, consider it an honor to suffer for the name of Jesus (Acts 6:41).

I once made a timeline of my life and marked on it all the noteworthy events (births, deaths, tragic events, moves, etc) and was blessed to see how God had been faithful, providing what I needed when I needed it. He is always faithful and that is a great comfort when we face trials. Thanks for sharing this story.