Grant and Alia’s Story: What God Did
“Prior to Gospel Care and Restore, we were running on fumes, hemorrhaging in need of care and restoration.” Last week, Grant and Alia shared their story of where they saw how God’s love was moving in their lives. Now, we get to hear Grant tell how that happened...
Grant:
God says in John 15 ,that if we abide in him, we can ask anything and it will be granted. He also says in John 15 that one of the key ingredients to abiding is keeping his commandments. As I sought wholeheartedly to abide in God (though I failed at times) I prayed expectantly, “God, if I abide in you, I can ask anything and it will be granted; Lord I want to know that you died specifically for me.” As I sought the Lord through wrestling in prayer and reading his word, after several painful months, God eventually answered.
One day Alia and I were driving, and God powerfully brought this scripture to my mind and burned it in my heart: Isaiah 53:6 “The Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” This broke through all the clouds and confusion, and my soul felt a weight lifted off.
Then God also answered powerfully through Romans 5 when Paul contrasts Adam and Christ. He says in Romans 5:18, “Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of obedience leads to justification and life for all men” (emphasis mine). So, one act of obedience leads to justification and life for all men. I knew that Paul’s metaphor did not work if he was saying in the same way that Adam’s trespass led to condemnation for all, Jesus' obedience led to righteousness for some. His analogy was clear that in the same way that what Adam did affected all people, what Jesus did was for all people. (Though some sadly may not receive this free gift for themselves). God answered so clearly, combating Satan’s lie.
God Understood My Story
I had seen the horrors of death, but learned that not only does God know and is aware of all the pain and suffering that is going on in this life, but he faced death and experienced it firsthand. Hebrews 2:9 says, “Jesus tasted death for every man.” Jesus tasted death for me personally and every person with no comfort care or in palliative care. He felt anguish in his soul and faced it--and saw it as worth it to free us from the lifelong slavery to the fear of dying. His amazing love was what made me face the horrors of death daily, and then show me personally how he had endured the same for me–such kindness.
I had longed to feel known, heard, loved and cared for in my affliction. I wanted to be heard. Jesus did hear my cry. I wanted my pain to be felt, Jesus the man of sorrows had felt my pain. My story had been connected with God’s story.
After Restore, 5 months later, we reached out urgently for more care because we knew we needed counseling as we were still having much grief, depression, nightmares, and other issues. Even though God answered me so loudly and clearly, I still struggled with mental battles of assurance of my salvation, and struggled to listen to my wife well. I continued to have some mental battles from spiritual warfare.
The teachings from Restore and Gospel Care with God’s word really helped restore my soul. One major thing I learned from Restore that helped was the fact that as we look outward and seek to love others, God restores our soul. I learned the scriptures in 1 John 4:18 and 1 John 4:12
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
I learned that in order for the fear tormenting my soul to be cast out, the secret was not to just stuff my head with more knowledge---but to look upward and outward, focusing on loving others around me and actively facing those fears.
Another teaching God used through Restore was about the obedience aspect that God calls for us believers. God wants us to abide in him to bear fruit, and one of the ways in which we do so is through living out God’s word. I had to make the choice to obey God’s command to resist Satan (James 4:7) and to not enter into the mind battles that had brought me into my mental prison. I had to also obey God’s command to love my precious bride (Ephesians 5). I hadn’t been listening well, and now had to seek to make progress in that area. Though I have still more work to do, I have definitely grown in this area!
Join us next week to see how God’s love changed Grant and Alia’s story even after Restore!
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