Strength of My Heart

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Betsy’s heart was hardened toward God. Born in Poland to a Catholic family, she was raised with a healthy respect for both God and religion. But, her husband’s alcohol abuse, the stress of raising five children, and having two sons leave the family to become Jehovah’s Witnesses had made her angry at God.

“My image of God was that of someone who would divide and take away,” she comments. Betsy resented God and believed He was responsible for orchestrating the many heartaches of what she saw as a wasted life.

“After 20 years in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, my oldest son left its ranks," Betsy tells. "I began to notice changes in his life. ... He not only said he was happy, but I saw that it was true. My son visited me and talked to me about God, but in a completely different way than before, when he was a Jehovah’s Witness. He often said that God was good.”

This was at odds with Betsy’s view of God. Yet, the more she talked with her son, the more her heart began to soften to the idea of a God of love, a God who answers prayers.

Not long after Betsy’s reunion with her son, she faced her most impossible challenge yet – cancer.

Lying in her hospital bed, Betsy prayed, “God, if You are there, please show me how to believe in You, because I have little life left.” Instantly, a weight was lifted and peace was restored. The cancer symptoms got better, then worse again, and then extremely bad. Betsy was bedridden, but she was not inactive.

Betsy read everything she could get her hands on. First, she read Christian pamphlets, then the book of John – a gift from her son. She received a New Testament and, later, a full Bible. When her eyes began to fail, her son would read to her.

When the pain of breaking bones and illness took over, Betsy lay in a hospice bed desperate to know God more and make Him known. Clinging to life and to God, Betsy prayed all day long for sick friends, for family members who didn’t know God, and for the opportunity to be baptized.

Almost a year later, Betsy baffled doctors with a recovery. She has been baptized and helped to lead two of her other children to Christ. She is no longer angry, because now God is the strength of her heart.

“Today, I'm 70 years old,” Betsy shares. “Although there have been many unpleasant events and moments in my life, I now actually see how the good Lord has led me through them ... And more importantly, how he taught me so much, first about myself, and then about Himself. For that I am, and I always will be, eternally grateful to my Father.”

Mustard Seed Prayers

Sharron lives in Macedonia. She was raised in an atheist family that did not discuss God, church, or the concept of eternity with a loving Savior. She notes that her entire family lived only for the day – with the exception of her grandmother.

“My grandmother constantly prayed and told me about her belief in God,” says Sharron. Her grandmother made a point of telling Sharron Bible stories that opened her eyes to Jesus and motivated her to think about eternity. Though the topic of Christianity was taboo within the family, her grandmother’s faithful prayers and courageous storytelling planted a seed in Sharron’s heart.

As Sharron got older, she fell prey to the ways of the world. She praised the present, living for nothing more than the moment. Still, in quiet times, her grandmother’s stories came back to her. “I tried to forget about them, but they would reappear like some voice calling me to think, to seek an answer, a solution to the unrest in my soul concerning eternity,” she remarks.

In adulthood, Sharron’s restless soul cried out for the Jesus of her youth. She relates, “One day a friend of mine told me about the relief of her soul after reading the Gospels and calling on Jesus Christ to be her God and Savior.” Her grandmother’s stories came flooding back, and Sharron asked her friend for a New Testament.

Sharron began reading the Gospels and attending Christian gatherings. “I understood that Jesus is the answer to my questions ... that Jesus was in fact calling me to get close to Him, and I was constantly running,” she submits.

Through Bible study and fellowship with believers, Sharron has come to a point where she can declare, “The future doesn’t scare me anymore. The loneliness and hopelessness are gone. In Jesus, I am assured that I am God’s child and that life is more than the here and now.”

Now, Sharron’s life is a testimony to friends and neighbors who are not believers. As in the parable of the mustard seed, the tiny seed of her grandmother’s quiet, faithful prayers has taken root and grown, bearing fruit for the cause of Christ.

A New Creation

In Ukraine, Victor’s parents considered him unwanted goods from the moment he was born. Though they attempted to build their own relationship, they were wholly unequipped to care for a child. Victor’s earliest memories involve eating off of dirty dishes, intoxicated and arguing parents, swearing and beating.

It wasn’t until he entered school that Victor realized his life was far from normal. School was a new world, without scandals, brawls and alcohol. By the time he reached junior high, Victor was having difficulty reconciling his family life with that of his friends. Realizing that he was not from a well-off family, Victor stole money from a classmate. This one act changed the course of his life.

Victor’s parents kicked him out of the house. Suddenly homeless, Victor found a new family on the streets. This new “family” did not offer love or support, but they did offer drugs and alcohol. They offered a way to escape the pain and hardships of living on the streets of Ukraine.

Drugs became the focus of Victor’s life. He not only used them, but also sold them. It wasn’t long before Victor was caught selling drugs and sent to prison. Though he naturally gravitated toward other criminals while in prison, Victor took note of some people who came to the prison to talk about God and pray with the prisoners.

It was common knowledge in prison that the paper used to make Bibles also made excellent cigarette paper. So, as many of his fellow prison mates did, Victor requested a New Testament from the visitors. However, unlike many of the other prisoners, Victor continued to meet with the prison ministry team. He would read and do his best to memorize each page of the New Testament before he rolled cigarettes.

After attending a Sunday service on repentance, Victor went back to his cell and read the story of the crucifixion. The eyes of his heart were opened and, right then and there, Victor decided he would never again use a page of the Holy Bible as cigarette paper. For the first time in his life, Victor felt hope, love and forgiveness. He repented and accepted Christ as his Savior.

Today, Victor is no longer in prison. He still regularly visits the prison, but now he goes as part of the ministry team – spreading the Good News and handing out New Testaments and literature. Victor’s life is filled with meaning and stability, for which he gives all credit to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Victor is a new creation!

*Stock photo

True Life

Lidija in Macedonia testifies that true life began for her when she surrendered her life to the Lord. “Before I gave my life to God, I thought of myself as being a Christian,” she admits. “I wanted to please God by lighting candles, by kissing icons, by not working on holidays, on days of patron saints, and so on. My life was empty, and I was constantly thinking that I was obedient to God, and that God was pleased with me. However, it was not satisfying.”

Then, Lidija came in contact with brothers and sisters from the evangelical church, who told her about having a relationship with Jesus. “I did not understand that, as I had no idea that one can have a relationship with God. They talked of God as their friend. Is that possible?” Lidija wondered. They gave Lidija a copy of the New Testament, and there she discovered what God really wants from her.

“I realized that I need to repent and to give my life to Jesus,” she shares. “I understood that all of my devotion, which I considered correct, was actually void and had nothing to do with God ... I was fulfilling some unnecessary obligations. God does not need any of that, but our hearts full of love, thanksgiving, kindness, humbleness, compassion, patience, meekness, being forgiving, submissive to His will.”

Lidija concludes, “I am thankful to God that I can live my life free of unnecessary obligations and enjoy my relationship with Him. I am thankful to Jesus, knowing that He gave His life for me so that I can live. I live full of joy, knowing that my God loves me and I rest in His embrace.”