The Six Flags incident: (aka. My testimony!)
Here’s the short version:
My freshman year in high school, I was not following the Lord. (Ya know back in the day when you THOUGHT you were and then something happened that made you see that you very obviously weren’t?) Yeah, I was a shoplifter! And I never even felt convicted until one day, on a band trip to Six Flags (I was a drummer), I got picked up shoplifting some jewelery from their gift store. They caught it all on video. It’s funny, they had better security than the mall. Anyway, the guy at their little police station saw me sobbing, and I am convinced that this guy was specifically sent by the Lord for this very moment. He said to me “I can tell this is not who you are or who you’ll become.” And he let me go. Only punishment was having to tell my parents FACE TO FACE what i did! AGH! That was interesting. But God moved on their hearts and they showed me grace more than I can still fathom to this day. It was a big deal in my home town too, but after this, my heart turned towards the Lord and I saw His amazing grace and since then, I have been pursuing Him. (to some degree anyway).
After this incident, I felt I needed to confess to my youth group. After I had very nervously done so, the 40+ people who were fuming with me for betraying their trust all lined up to hug me and forgive me. Then, my youth director, one of the most influential people in my life, took me up in his arms and held me and cried over me. I felt the love of Jesus in that moment and I knew I’d been forgiven.
My parents knew that the shame I felt was punishment enough. They only held me and cried with me too. I had 5 days of Out of School Suspension and during those 5 days, my mom and dad loved me so much that I felt clean again. Thank you, Lord, for parents who love Your Name.
So there it is! He saved me from hell. Even if this experience doesn’t seem all that dramatic, it could have gone WAY further, but He stepped in and let me hear His voice through that police guy. God is GOOD, people!
If anyway out there is reading this and doesn’t believe in Jesus, I want you to know that He loves you and wants to do something amazing in your life. He gave His life on the cross so that He could save you from death and shame. You can know peace that passes understanding. You can know the power of the uncreated God in your heart. Turn to Him and I promise you, you’ll never be the same and you’ll never want to go back. He loves you SOO much!
