
We can do nothing against the truth.
2 Corinthians 13:8.
I spent my youth in the former Soviet Union. There I read lots of books that opposed the Christian faith. But one day the question crossed my mind: If God doesn’t exist, why all these efforts to resist him? In our communist society the whole system – schools, the media, science and arts – fought against the faith. How were Christians able to maintain their assurance of faith and their peace, although they were ostracized? My own parents’ example was always before me: they were committed Christians.
One day I decided to accompany them to a Christian gathering. During the sermon I considered the question: How can anyone pray to someone he can’t see? It seemed absurd to me. Nevertheless the question plagued me.
Six months later I again heard a Christian preacher and was touched by the gospel. Then I was overwhelmed by persuasive thoughts not to give way. “If you get involved in that, you will have to give up everything. You will lose your friends. Your studies and your prospects for the future will be frittered away.” However, I knelt down and my tears flowed – not for what I would lose, but because of my newly found knowledge that God loved me. I called on Him, asking Him to forgive my unbelief. And God answered me. He granted me forgiveness and peace! Now it was no longer an assumption that God might exist. I knew it. And I also knew that Jesus was my Saviour and my Lord.
Image: By Carl Bloch – http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ycv0BE0wFr4/TU8WRXJmxYI/AAAAAAAAAgI/2QjVrd4bEHo/s1600/Sermon_on_the_Mount_Carl_Bloch.jpg and Carl Bloch, p. 313, ISBN 9788798746591, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=186837