As it is written in the Bible, in the Gospel by John 6:67: So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”
Since I can remember, I have had a life I always wanted. Gathered family, both parents, a sister. There were few disagreements and some minor fights, but my family was always by my side, extending all kinds of support and a shelter for me. I was an excellent student at school, enrolled into a university I have always wanted, having a boyfriend who did everything to please me… and at first glance it all seemed so perfect. However, no one glanced at me when I was alone in my room, preoccupied with the thoughts that haunted me, trying to find a purpose to my life. There was a void in me, one that I tried to fulfil asking myself all sorts of questions, seeking answers. Answers that never came.
A day I will always remember was one of those ordinary days, yet so very different from the rest. I was enjoying a coffee following the lectures, when a friend surprised me with a question: “Do you believe in God?” Baffled by the question I have not expected, I paused, thinking of a philosophical answered and finally retorted: “Well, I don’t know, there probably is something, but I don’t think anyone knows who or what is ‘up there’.”
Although raised in a “Catholic family”, I bore no Christian fruits. On the contrary, my parents are a bit on a “liberal” side, so I adopted their way of thinking and after the elementary school I stopped going to church, and priests started to annoy me with the things they spoke of.
However, that day I fell asleep thinking about the question. In difficult moments, when I didn’t know whom to turn to, I cried: “God, help me!” But, did I really believe in Him?? The answer was: NO.
Days went by, and everyday commotion was dragging me with it, my memory of that day paled. And then it happened, something that changed the flow of my life. A boy I was with for 5 years, of whom I was thinking in terms of “life together”, broke up with me, for no apparent reason. I was crushed, and the first person I turned to was my friend that asked me the question “Do you believe?” That same night I received a text message from her: “Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” These verses from 2 Corinthians 4:16 were the ones that soothed me and gave me strength. The following day I had an exam, and passed it praise the Lord, and went to find my friend, to “ease my soul.” She told me of Jesus, what He did for me and why. It was then that I called Him into my heart and peace came, and fulfilment. However, I had a lot of worldly worries and somehow I left Jesus on the outskirts somehow. Something still drew me to Him, but I always found an excuse to avoid doing so.
Now I know it was God who called me, who knocked and waited for me to open the door and call him to action in my life. In July of 2006 I made a decision to go in God’s way, to allow him to work in my life and to believe in every single promise He gave to me in Bible.
My name is Svetlana and I have 23 years. I am a graduate of the University of Law in Zagreb and I want to tell you that God healed my heart. He gave answers to my numerous troubling questions, while some of those questions became meaningless. Most of all, He gave me joy, peace, fulfilment and I know He is El Shaddai: God Almighty who is more than sufficient!
