Better with God

On Monday, November 15, our church had the privilege to witness a miracle. Now some might not refer to baptisms as miracles. That might be due to the repetitive nature, something that many Jesus followers get used to being a part of. Truth be told, all of the sacraments are miracles and are essential to our spiritual formation. They help us remember God’s role in our conversion so we can give him gratitude and praise. Josh’s testimony serves to be a testimony of just this idea.

Josh was raised in the Catholic Church and attended a Catholic school his entire life. When he was in 8th grade, he encountered Jesus for the first time.

“That was the moment where I knew for a fact that Jesus was real. But because conversations about Jesus and faith seemed to be reserved for Sunday mornings, a class in school, or a retreat, my certainty waned.”

During Josh’s high school years, he found himself in an unhealthy dating relationship that isolated him from the rest of his friends. When that relationship abruptly ended his senior year of high school, he was left lonely and heartbroken. He took that negative energy and pushed it aside in order to focus on his golfing. He had just signed a Division 1 scholarship to golf for the University of Texas at Arlington.

“I began to question whether or not my moral beliefs/rules were outdated.”

“During this twisted season, I began to think that my loneliness came from being the only one who would follow the ‘rules’ of a Catholic Christian. Everyone else was drinking, having sex, and loving life. I was over here being the good kid, and all that got me was loneliness and pain. Therefore, I began to question whether or not my moral beliefs/rules were outdated. When I got to college, I was sick and tired of being lonely and not having friends. I lived with other golfers, went to class with other golfers, and practiced with other golfers, so I decided that I would do whatever it took to fit in and belong to those guys.”

In order to gain approval from his new college friends, Josh threw himself into moral ambiguity, following their path to pleasure. In a difficult moment, Josh found himself at the mercy of God. He fell to his knees in prayer for the first time in several years.

“I was absolutely distraught… I ‘fit in’ with those around me, but I still felt like something was not right. What I was doing was empty. The void in my heart was still there, and I was still hurting.”

Around the same time, a friend invited him to go to a College Golf Fellowship conference, a Christian organization for college-aged golfers. 

“I saw what it was like to be surrounded by a community of believers who loved Jesus and had an active relationship with him, something that extended beyond Sunday mornings, religion classes, and rule-following.”

“What I was doing was empty. The void in my heart was still there, and I was still hurting.”

During some of Josh’s lowest moments, God was pursuing him. He was helping Josh see that his life was filled with experiences and relationships that were not life-giving. God brought new relationships with people who loved Jesus and were faithfully living out of their love for Jesus. 

“I joined a Bible study at UTA, found community, and began doing life on life with these other Christians. We pursued Jesus with all of our hearts, put on the armor of God, and battled the temptations of our flesh together in Jesus’ name. The active and living Word of God pierced my hardened heart of stone and turned it into flesh. Jesus had his hand on me from the beginning.”  

God used his people to draw Josh to himself. He showed Josh his need for forgiveness and gave Josh the faith to call on Jesus for forgiveness and to follow him as savior and Lord of his life.

Josh no longer sees reading his Bible and living faithfully as only something that is required of him - a blind obedience, but it has turned into something he deeply desires. He now enjoys a relationship with Jesus that leads him to trust and follow his ways into new life. He is a part of a community of Christians that encourage him, love him, and care for him. In the words of Josh, “I was exposed to the lie that I was missing out on a better life apart from God...The floodgates were opened for God to take over my life completely. Man, how sweet it is. Thank you, Lord.”