Following Christ

 

 

John Struzzo – Prayer Center Assistant Coach/Recruiter

I know what it is like to follow Christ. When we follow Him, we show that we trust Him and believe He will provide for us and fulfill His promises.

I know a thing or two about following Christ. Regarding my wedding and marriage, God let me know that the lady I was dating was someone He had in mind for me. He even let me know when we would be married and who He wanted as the pastor to marry us.  I am so glad we followed Christ’s lead because I had the peace of knowing that God was for this marriage. Beyond having this peace, by following Christ we were able to experience the fruit of following Christ—the pastor at our wedding shared the Gospel during the ceremony and we believe that at least one person accepted the Lord Jesus into her life that day.

I also experienced what it is like to follow Christ when I went back to school to get a Master of Divinity degree at Regent University. God let me know this was the school He had in mind for me. Although it was not revealed at first when this would happen, it did happen after about 28 years of waiting. I tried to go a year before God wanted me to go, but I didn’t have God’s peace. So, I decided to wait. The following year things seemed to fall into place for me and my wife to go. And we had peace about moving forward. We had to get rid of enough of our belongings (except for two items we sent ahead of us by mail) to be able to travel across country in our car. It turned out well because we were doing what Jesus tells us to do: let go of what we are holding onto here on earth to put Him first and follow Him (Luke 18:22).

We learned about trusting in the Lord and how God makes our paths straight in a very real way. It brought to life my favorite Scriptures in the Bible, Proverbs 3:5-6:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV).

We were completely dependent upon God to provide everything.

Thankfully, going to Regent was what He wanted, so He had everything prepared for us. Just like He has prepared for you. We just need to move forward in faith and follow Christ. And when we move in faith, God will move on our behalf to provide everything we need to serve Him. How true is the Scripture:

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).