In the past year, one of the things that has stood out to me when reading scripture is the way those who love Christ are called to remember and relate his faithfulness. I’m reminded of Acts, when Paul and James reunite and Paul relates “one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry” (Acts 21:19). Or the many times in Psalms where David relates the faithfulness of God to his people.

Or how Moses reminds the people over and over again of the way God had rescued them from the Egyptians.

As we see in these examples and many others, recounting the faithfulness of the Lord is a way we can bring him honor, encourage those around us, and remind ourselves of where we have come from, so as to relieve doubt and worry as to where God will lead us in the future.

With these three goals in mind then, I’m grateful to be able to relate my story. The story of how the grace of God led me out of a life of sin and into the salvation of Christ.

We can pick things up in my 9th year (or so). Mormon missionaries came to knock on our door and my mom, brother and I began to attend the local Mormon church.

Fast forward to 12 and I was baptized. Fast forward to 16 and I was going to the temple to get baptized for the dead, involved in Mormon “seminary,” a daily class that all Mormon high school students go to before the school day begins, and regularly going with Mormon missionaries to discuss the Mormon scriptures with anyone who asked.

I also went to Mormon summer camp, was extremely active in the youth group and regularly gave “talks” during the service.

I talked about having a burning in my bosom, was convinced that Joseph Smith was a prophet and argued with anyone who would listen that the Book of Mormon was the truest book in all of scripture.

I believed. I tried hard. I did all I could do. And then I didn’t.

Mormons are clear. You are saved after all you can do. For me, all I could do amounted to sin. Sin still clamping down on me and holding me hostage.

It started as a slow drift away, conflicts with Mormon friends, a close relationship with a young lady who was also a Mormon and a growing realization that no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t kill sin on my own.

Then I began to question. How many gods were there anyway? Why was I worshipping the God of this universe and not his father or maybe his grandfather or even great-grandfather. As an aside, this is what happens when you open up the trinity. You end up saying that there was a time that Christ didn’t exist, that he was created. Furthermore, if God could and did “create” a god, then why is he is the only God… It follows that he was created too, right? And once you open that door, well. I remember looking at the stars one night and wondering just how many gods there really were!

So here I was, 18 and lost. What did I really believe? If there was a God out there somewhere, he couldn’t just be one of millions of other gods, could he? I wanted to find THE GOD. The creator of life. And he wasn’t in the Mormon Church.

That’s when a friend challenged me to reread the Bible. Leave out the Mormon bible, and just read the Bible. I confess I don’t remember much of what I read, but I do remember reading it, hoping it would become real to me.

The climax of the story occurs in a small church that was meeting in a school. At the time, I was working a couple of jobs, preparing to go to college. I decided (at the urging of some friends) to go to a church that wasn’t Mormon.

I slipped in one Sunday and sat in the back. I didn’t want to be noticed. I just wanted to go through the motions and leave. I was tired of trying. Tired of looking and at the end of myself.

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. This is where I first heard, with supernatural ears given to me by the spirit, about the grace of God.

The grace of God which saved a man named Paul. A man who fought hard against Christianity and was sure of himself. A man who did all he could do. Who was set up to lead the Jews against Christianity.

I thought the sermon was going to be like all the ones I had heard before. Until the pastor arrived at 2nd Corinthians 12:6–10 (ESV):

though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (Emphasis added), 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I remember hearing verse 9 and breaking down. Tears streaming down my face, I got down on my knees in the back of that church and prayed. I wanted that grace. I desired not that my power would save me after all I could do, but that his power would be made perfect in my weakness.

And that began a journey of God’s faithfulness that I’m still on today.

It hasn’t been easy. On the contrary, it has often been quite hard, but God’s grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in my weakness.

I write all this today in the hopes of encouraging you. There is a God. He loves you. He desires for you to repent of your sins and give your life to him. And when you do, his power is made perfect.

It has nothing to do with all that you have done. It only has to do with all that he has done. His power, not yours, will save you. He is true. He is powerful. This God is the creator of all life, this God sent his son into the world to live the life we couldn’t live, to die the death that we deserved, and to pay fully for all the sins of those who trust in him.

I hope this encourages you. I hope that this story whenever it is told brings God glory. And I hope that it continues to remind me, and my family, that no matter what happens in the world the Lord is on the throne and loves us dearly.

Until next time. Thanks for reading.