It was He who found me
My aunt visited us from the States. She came to Lebanon to attend my wedding ceremony. As I was sharing my faith and conversion story with her two weeks after the wedding, she told me the following, "I haven't told this to anyone, not even your mom, but you know what Mrs. X* told me about your pastor? She told me that he's a deceiver and he has been fooling many young people into believing in false doctrine. But do you know what I told her? I told her Sebouh is not a fool; don’t you remember what he told us on the table four years ago when we were all gathered together at that restaurant? He said, ‘I was looking for Him but it was He who found me...’" My aunt went on and told me "I never have forgotten those words and I never will… they have been resounding in my ears all these years.”
I thank the Lord for His blessings in my life and I thank Him for finding me when I was raging, desperately struggling to reach Him. Many Christians, during their testimonies, forget to realize that it is the Lord that has been doing everything from the beginning of their lives and it is the Father who draws us to His Son (John 6:44). It is not because of any work on our part that we are saved because it is only through faith that we can see God and accept His salvation as the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:8-10)
Yes, many people claim to have found the truth, and many claim to have found the way and sometimes they have! There are many teachers and many so-called prophets and men of God who have been claiming, teaching and interpreting all sorts of things. Many participate in debates, discussions, and dialogues. They raise their voices on each other and preach to the masses. They demonstrate their theories, philosophies, and doctrines. Some try to convince others but in fact are only seeking to convince their own lost and troubled souls. Others seek their own glory and fame by trying to use their authority over other fellow human beings.... but when the Master steps in, they all fall on their knees and freeze with fear and trembling. Complete silence fills the room…
I love Christianity because it cannot be squeezed into a religion. I love Christianity because it is not about rules and things that man can have control over. I love Christianity because it is dependent on the one and only risen Son of God, the King of Kings who purchased us with His own precious blood because He loved us. I love the Lord and everything He does even when it causes me to panic and stress. I know it is for the good because I have tasted His goodness and I can testify that The Lord Jesus is the only one that can be called “good” without having any doubt in my mind. We often struggle to prove to others that Christianity is The Way. We forget the very essence of the subject matter. We forget to trust in Him and His goodness and give Him glory and praise for all the things we testify about.
This last month I got married, went away on my honeymoon, came back, witnessed the elections with all the commotion it brought and came to realize that the Lord Jesus has everything in His hands. He truly is the master of the ceremony, the conductor of the opera, the great general and leader, the true prophet and teacher. He keeps on talking to my heart about the times and the places and the seasons that people go through and how He sits on His throne as the great gardener sowing, watering, cleaning and keeping watch.
People miss the fact that He is in control of their lives as the righteous ruler and not as a dictator. People still go against the grain and refuse to pause for a second and look up. My father keeps quiet and leaves the dinner table to light his pipe when my story reaches its conclusion by displaying how all that God is seeking is a relationship. The psalmist said it perfectly 3000 years ago, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” (Ps 95:6-8)
