Shilpi’s story from The Difference Jesus Makes
Knowing Jesus as my Lord and personal Saviour has been a journey. Growing up in a Christian home and later years studying in convent, I’d heard and know of Jesus. But it had never been so up close and personal as of now. I never got the significance of what His death on the cross really meant and how it could have any impact on me at all. It never clicked somehow much as I tried. Though I held Jesus in reverence all those many years in life, He wasn’t a part of my life. Going to church was just following rituals, reciting prayers and back. It was just a routine of my convent life. And most of the time it was a real bore! Life took different turns gradually. College life was more interesting than the convent life I had experienced before. I saw life from a different view altogether. They were maybe some of my best years of my life. Still, after all these years, I felt like something was missing in my life. I felt a big hole in my heart. At times they were painful. Nothing I did satisfied the emptiness I felt inside. I started seeking. I read books on meditation, various religious books, and believed that God was one. There was one God and there were many paths to it. I thought you could come into God’s presence through whichever path you chose, Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, they all led to the same God. It all changed on that one special day when I felt the presence of Jesus himself. I wasn’t happy inside and felt strongly there was no meaning to this life anymore.
It was at that deepest darkest moment of my life when Jesus saved me from myself. I’d felt His presence, the peace and the calm I’d never felt before and for the first time the emptiness disappeared!! It’s a very long story and I didn’t understand what had happed but understood a couple of years later through revelation. Long story cut short: I hadn’t accepted Jesus after the first encounter. I fell into a ditch again and the same feeling of emptiness again. This time I ran into a friend who told me about Jesus at just the right time. It couldn’t have been a better timing than this! Jesus had saved me the second time!!
The same friend gave me a Bible (I never had one before) and helped me understand God’s love and His word. Finally accepted Jesus into my life and felt brand new. Now I was able to see what Jesus’ death on the cross meant for me personally. Everything fell into place, and I remember waking up each morning after that happy and singing all the time. It was like finally finding what I’ve been searching for for many years. I was searching till Jesus found me!! Woo hoo!!
It’s been a journey and it will continue to be. But now the difference is I’ve got Jesus on my side. I don’t feel empty and that life is meaningless anymore. When I look back over the years what He had done for me I am astounded. That He IS for a Sinner like me is amazing!!! I’ve been blessed in many ways and He still continues to bless me. He lets me know that He is by my side along this journey of life. Life is not always rosy but having Jesus by my side makes all the difference. I know I am not perfect and will never be, I keep making mistakes and have my many faults but that’s exactly the reason I am glad I’ve got Jesus!! Jesus said,
”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. (John’s Gospel Chapter 14 verse 6)
