“Life has its ups and downs. My faith has been tested but God’s grace is sufficient for me. His forgiveness is bigger than my sins.”
– Leslie Elia, Life Associate at Life Leadership
Keeping faith in God during tough times can be extremely hard. However, only faith helps you to get through the difficult times. Leslie Elia went through many ups and downs in her life, but she knows she can trust in God to give her strength to keep her going and growing.
It’s Not About Religion but a Personal Relationship with God
Many attend Catholic or Protestant churches all their lives yet never have a personal relationship with Jesus. Knowing God is more than head knowledge or following traditions. It requires committing your life over to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It’s intentional and transformational. For Leslie, she was raised as a Christian but fell away from the faith as a young adult.
In Matthew 13: 1 – 9, Jesus share the following parable to a large crowd gathered by a lake:
The Parable of the Sower
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Jesus went on to explain the meaning behind the parable:
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
For Leslie, she had heard the Gospel as a child but the seed never took root. But God was not about to let go of Leslie.
She worked at a coffee shop. A customer named Alan visited the coffee shop almost daily. Overtime, she learned about Alan’s dark past. Yet, there was a calm gentleness about him. He shared his faith with her. Leslie could not believe a man with such a past would be a churchgoer. But that was just it! Leslie says, “He taught me all about forgiveness. No matter how wicked our lives were, we could be washed clean and start afresh. I wanted that.”
On a faithful day, God used Alan to share the message of Christ’s salvation with Leslie. “Do you acknowledge that Jesus died and rose on the third day?” He then asked if she wanted to be forgiven of her sins. Leslie desperately wanted to be saved. That day “We prayed, right there, in the front seat of his Fleetwood Brougham. This was in 1985.”
Facing Life’s Challenges
She knew that life after accepting Christ as her Lord and Savior was not going to magically make her life perfectly wonderful with rainbows and chocolate.
Then, she met Jimmy, the man she would marry. She began attending church again. Leslie says, “In the beginning, it was indeed rainbows and chocolate.”
Now, years later, Leslie has endured a great deal of suffering including the loss of her second brother, her father, and her mother, as well as having had a miscarriage between the pregnancy of two of her children. She adds, “My husband and I have had financial difficulties and there was even a time where Jimmy announced that he didn’t think he believed in God.” Jimmy even had an affair that lasted six months before Leslie found out.
Some of us turn away from God or question God when faced with hardship. What they don’t realize is that Earth is a fallen world. Ever since sin entered God’s creation (Garden of Eden), the world is influenced by Satan. You can see the devil’s work in politics, industries and broken families. We live in a sinful world. As such, there will be pain, brokenness, evil, disasters and deaths. When we understand this backdrop, instead of running away from God, we realize that we need to run to God. Only He can save us.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
– Romans 6:23
Finding Happiness Through Christ Alone
Leslie says, “My faith has been tested but God’s grace is sufficient for me.” She adds, “I am happy to say that my husband and I did stay together, and he has been going to church with me for years.”
Leslie knows that there will be more challenges to come but God is more than sufficient. He is our source of strength in times of trouble. He alone quenches our thirst. How are you striving on Easter Sunday?
To accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, simply ask him to come into your heart with a prayer of salvation:
I acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God; that He came to earth as a man in order to live the sinless life that we cannot live; that He died in our place, so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve. I confess my past life of sin — living for myself and not obeying God. I admit I want to trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. I ask Jesus to come into my heart, take up residence there, and begin living through me.
