My Testimony
I was saved at six years old, and am one of the lucky believers to have grown up in a Christian home. All my life I have been surrounded by awesome Christian examples: my mother, older sister and her husband, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. Almost all of my uncles are pastors, so there have always been many good mentors in my life looking out for me.
I can remember sitting on the side of my bed at six years old after my bedtime story and praying with my mom to ask Jesus into my heart. I reached the “age of accountability” very early in my life, and I think the Lord gave me that wisdom so that I might be better equipped to handle a lot of the challenges I had as a child. When I was eight years old, I became severely ill with appendicitis and almost died. Years later, up until I was about eleven, I suffered from panic attacks and dizzy spells. I don’t know how I would have gotten through those tough times had I not had Jesus to lean on and carry me through. Growing up, I’ve had the privilege of leading friends to Christ, and planting many seeds I know God will use.
When I was about to turn thirteen, my world came crashing down when my dad left my mother and wanted a divorce. My dad had fallen away from God over the past ten years, though I wasn’t even aware of the problem. My parents divorced later that year, and are still not back together, (my mom and the whole family continue to pray daily for my dad). That was an excruciatingly hard time for me as a young teenager, and I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and really stumbling in my walk with the Lord.
I made a lot of mistakes during that period of time, and when I was about fifteen I began questioning my salvation. I couldn’t feel the Holy Spirit as I felt I should, and I was doing a lot of things that I knew a Christian wasn’t supposed to. Eventually I realized the reason I had been feeling doubt was because I hadn’t been living the way God wanted me to. The Holy Spirit was really convicting me about my lifestyle. When I was sixteen, I talked and prayed with my mother about it, and recommitted my life to the Lord. I realized then that I had learned a lot about God that I hadn’t known when I first accepted Christ, but that God had accepted me just as I was, with that little bit of knowledge I had as a six year old: that I was a sinner and that Jesus died to save me. I realized too that just because I was only six years old when I accepted Christ, didn’t mean that I wasn’t truly saved. I had merely stumbled in my walk, but God was holding on to me and drawing me back to Him during that hard time in my life. He was just waiting for me to put all my life, every last little detail, into His hands, and not to worry about anything! So by casting all my cares on Him (because He cares for ME) I gave the situation with my dad, worrying about my future husband, and even worrying about what I’m supposed to do with my life, to God, and let Him guide me one day at a time.
By God’s grace,
Rachael Johnson
