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I was born and raised in an atheistic culture in China and taught that all religions were irrational and useless. And only a fool or the weak would believe and need them. One thing you can only depend on is yourself. Working hard will make you successful and happy. My hard work seemed to yield early success in my life. I first worked hard to get myself into college at a time when it was still very difficult in China. Despite the first two attempts failing, I kept working harder and was accepted on my third attempt. I later got a good job in education, started to publish and received rewards. I was quite successful very early in my career. But I was not happy at all. My dreams were much bigger. I then decided to pursue further education and the American dream in the US. For the first few years in the states, I spent most of my time studying and worked in restaurants to support myself. The working environment in restaurants was tough. I often got yelled at and mistreated. To save money, I had to live in a dangerous neighborhood. I got robbed twice in my apartment building, one being gun-pointed by a young man and the other by a gang of robbers; one of them put his arm around my throat to choke me while the others searched my body and took the money away. I had never thought my American dream would be like that. But those bad experiences did not bother me much, although I sometimes felt lonely away from my family. I believed that the current situation was just temporary and I would have my success and happiness later as long as I continued to pursue my dream. God worked in me through Christian friends in school. One of my classmates was a Christian. He told me one day that God answered his prayer when he asked God for something, and a few days later, he received it as a gift mailed from a friend. Obviously, I did not believe that. I thought it was just a coincidence and he was too subjective. He kindly kept inviting me to his fellowship. I went with him but was not interested in finding out what they really believed. Nevertheless I liked their fun activities and could see the happiness and peace in their faces. That went on for a while. It was not until later on, when a friend of mine died of liver cancer in his 20s, did I begin to reflect on the meaning of life. I was shocked by his death at such a young age and realized how fragile and unpredictable our lives were. Somehow at the same time, I also had some discomfort around the spot where my liver is located. I was so scared that I may have liver cancer too. At my friend’s funeral, I remember that the Pastor quoted God’s words. It says “the length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” This describes the reality of life I was seeing. The passage triggered me to think about what I should do with my life. The Pastor asked me to think about the purpose of life. Since then I have attended church, and more seriously sought the truth. My atheistic belief was challenged. My heart was gradually softened by the Words of God and the life testimonies of other Christians. I later completed my graduate studies and got my degree. I thought I should be happy about it. But I still felt unhappy and empty. Unsuccessful job search coupled with a broken dating relationship led me to the valley of my life. It felt hopeless because there were no more schools, no jobs, and the loss of a relationship. I also found myself having more spare time. I went to church more often. One of brothers invited me to his home for dinner and shared the four spiritual laws with me: Law 1: God LOVES me and offers a wonderful PLAN for my life. Law 2: Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, I cannot know and experience God's love and plan for my life. Law 3: Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him I can know and experience God's love and plan for my life. Law 4: I must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, then I can know and experience God's love and plan for my life. But I did not pay much attention to it at that time. Instead, I challenged him with many questions, such as “how can a loving God allow evil and suffering?”, “how can miracles possibly happen?”, and “what are the evidences of God’s existence.” Through many intellectual encounters, some of the puzzles were addressed. But there were still many unsatisfactory answers. Jesus gradually changed my heart without me even noticing it. I remembered that one day, I said to my Christian friend “if I can read some anti-Christianity books and find them baseless, then I may consider believing in your faith. So far, all I heard was the one-sided Christian story.” God is very humorous. Who would have thought I made my decision to trust Him only a week later without even reading any of those books. A brother invited me to a retreat. During the retreat, the Pastor invited those who would like to accept Christ as their Savior to stand up. Initially, I tried hard not to. But as he continued to pray for us for an extended time, God slowly worked inside my heart. And I felt His comfort and could not resist His power, and then finally stood up. I was overwhelmed at that moment and could not stop my tears. All the hardships, hurts, and fears that I have endured for years were lifted out after praying with the Pastor. I experienced God’s presence in my life and the true happiness I had never had. The Lord helped me put my trust in Him when I was not yet fully convinced intellectually about Christian faith at that time. Since that day I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, God gradually changed my life. I became a new person and a happier person. I was once selfish, which made me unhappy. My life was all about MY dreams, MY career, MY ambitions, My relationship, My success, and My happiness. I realize that life is not just about myself but about God and others too. I am happy to give because Jesus first gave to the point that he died for such a selfish and unworthy sinner like me. I found the truth about God’s words "It is more blessed to give than to receive". I began to give and serve others in the church. I went on several short term missions trips to developing countries to share God’s love to people and experienced real joy for serving others and helping people to know Jesus. Seeing people accept Jesus and having new and joyful lives give me great joy that any success in the world cannot. I later left my good paying and comfortable job to serve God full time. Many friends and relatives thought I was a fool. But I thank God who helps me to find heavenly treasure which is much greater than worldly success. Praise the Lord who has given me a new life, a fulfilled life, and a truly happy life.