Iulian

He gave me my life back

 

Picture me as a seven-year-old boy in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where I was born. I’m crying – but not

for joy. My mother had died suddenly, overnight. Three days later, at the funeral, I realised that I would never

be able to see her again. I just cried and cried without stopping.

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My father remarried – and I gained a stepmother and a stepsister. Within a few years we were starting to enjoy the good things of life once more. But when I was 17 another event changed my life again. My father and stepmother died in a car accident, while I and my stepsister were at school.

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In that moment, the only one who seemed to be guilty was God – he’s supposed to be in control, isn’t he? So I decided to live my life without him. Parties, travelling, sport – these were the things which filled my time and my empty heart after I lost my parents. But still nothing made sense.

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Then one day I rediscovered God as he really is in his Word, the Bible: loving, patient, protecting, compassionate. The sadness and insecurity – the dark abyss of my heart – was taken away. Things started to make sense again.

There had been a time when I’d wanted to end my life. But now God had revealed his love for me: his Son, Jesus Christ, had given his life in my place. When I realised that, it was like God had given me my life back again. He knew how much I could endure, and had redeemed me, adopting me as his child.

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God had allowed suffering in my life for a short time, and now, even though life still has its challenges, I can leave everything in his hands. The joy which I have in Christ has no limit.