When Ray and I responded to the call of God on our lives to leave our home, our car, our families, our friends, our church and our jobs in Ayr in Scotland and travel to Wolverhampton in England the sacrifice seemed so small. We left a beautiful seaside resort in Ayr, our three bedroomed bungalow, our sporty car and two very good jobs to work with British Youth for Christ. We didn’t know anyone in Wolverhampton apart from two dear friends whom we had got to know the previous year and so they invited Ray and I to live with them. They lived in a house, which they rented in the red-light district of Wolverhampton. The house had dampness running down some of its walls and prostitutes touting for business outside, yet we never looked back once because we were so excited at the journey God had us on. As the years passed, people would often ask us about the sacrifice we had made, but it didn’t even occur to us that it was a sacrifice! We had fallen in love with Jesus and we only wanted to do what he wanted us to do no matter where that was or what that entailed! Knowing all the ups and downs, the good and the not so good times, the pain and the hardships we have been through since our call in 1980, the question is, would we do it all again? The answer is a resounding YES! There is such fun, adventure, laughter, joy and delight in getting to know God and following his will for our lives which far outweighs the painful and hard times that we often experience.
The truth is that the more you get to know the Lord, the more you realise that there is so much more to know! Even though Paul had incredible heavenly visions, even though he was caught up into paradise and heard things he was not permitted to tell others, he still poured out a cry from his heart, “I want to know Christ.” We will never get to the end of knowing all there is to know but the more you do know, the more you want to know! The more you experience his delight and his joy, the more you find you cannot live without really knowing him. There is no other way of knowing the Lord, other than spending time with him. I know how easy it is for our attention to be taken up with the worries and cares that this world brings, but if we don’t tend the garden so to speak, the weeds will grow so quickly and begin to squeeze the joy, laughter and delight out of our hearts.
When someone doesn’t spend time with the Lord his or her spiritual light within dulls and they can easily fall away! Falling away from God never happens overnight, it’s always a process. If you stop spending time alone with him, you will find that the temptation to do wrong seems to burn more strongly within you! However, when you spend time with the Lord and keep his word in your heart, then when temptation comes you can fight it much more easily. Experiencing Jesus and his joy is the best antidote ever to sinning! Discover who he really is today!
