My Life: God vs Parents

My junior invited me to a church event one Saturday afternoon. It was a fun-filled youth event with games, preaching, and praise and worship sessions. It was this gathering that I came to know more about this unique God, Jesus, whom they say created me. The sentence, “I am created in God’s image!” remained in my mind for quite some time, and I knew there was something special about this Jesus. During the salvation call, I wanted to accept Him as my Lord and Savior, but I did not because I know that my parents will kill me if I did. I went home feeling confused and that night, I told my parents that I want to convert; I received a huge rebuke. Not only was I scolded by my parents, I was scorned by my brother. I was so ashamed and disappointed.

From then on, my parents would give me constant warnings not to convert for several reasons, with my elder brother giving me piercing looks whenever we crossed paths. I felt so restricted and soon, I gave up about wanting to know this Jesus.

However, God had everything planned out for me. A few months later, to my amazement, my parents invited me to church as they were being invited by their friends. I thought they were against Christianity? What changed them? When I reached the hotel, I realized that my parents had already attended the services for a few times. I attended the youth gathering and one of the brothers told me that if I really want to know Jesus, all I need to do is to tell Him that “God, I want to know more about You.” I did just that that very night before I went to bed…

A few months later, another junior of mine invited me to Lighthouse Evangelism. I was awed by the praise and worship session. Somehow in my heart, I knew Jesus is indeed the true and living God. There was this feeling that cannot be explained through words. He had touched me, really. During the salvation call, my heart wanted to respond, but my body remained rooted to the ground. On one hand, I really wanted to receive Jesus into my heart, but on the other, I had to take my parents into consideration. My friend was prompting me, my heart was racing, and I knew God was knocking on my door. Sadly, I didn’t open it that day.

Week after week, I attended church without my parents consent, or rather; they had no idea where I went each Sunday. I had to come up with lies each week to be able to go to church. This went on for more than 3 months…

Next: My Life: Salvation!