In the end, the exercise of giving a testimoney of how God has worked in my life over the past 10 years was very worthwhile on a personal level. It is helpful and important to reflect on the different events God has used to change me.
Below is is an outline of what I shared.
1. How I became a Christian
- - As a child I my parents went to church and the
only time I thought about God was when I got scared of “going to hell”, I
didn’t really know much about God
- -When I was 17 I worked at a Christian all-boys
wilderness summer camp and it was here that I felt like I first met other
people my age who were really excited about Jesus, they made God seem real
-
At the time, there were two bible verses that I
encountered that really made an impression on
o
1 Corinthians 10:13- no temptation has seized
you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it
§
For me, in HS, I was tempted to drink alcohol,
use marijuana, look at pornography and try to be physical with girls…this
verse, and God being faithful to fulfill his promise and his help with these
things was “proof” of God's power
o
Romans 8:38- for I am convinced that neither
death nor life, no angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor
any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able
to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
§
This verse is so exciting! I am more loved by
God then I can even imagine
2. How I became a doctor
- - I didn’t know any doctors (none in my
family/none of my friends parents were doctors), but I decided I really wanted
to be a doctor when I was 10 years old and remained obsessed with that dream
through middle school, HS, and college
o
I thought that being a doctor was going to make
me important and make me happy and I made choices as young as 12 yo to make
sure that I’d be able to get into med school
3. How I changed in University
- - My relationship with God grew a lot during my
time in university, I learned more and more about what Jesus really did for me
(erasing my sins by dying for me)
- -My faith in God grew from “a religion”, “a set
of rules”, “a set of beliefs” to a way of life
- -One really important verse for me was John 13:
34: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if
you love one another
o
I started thinking about what this verse might
mean for my life, “loving other people” this is what was most important to God,
and I started to question my goal of being a doctor
- -Until that point, I had only wanted to be a
doctor because of all the things it would do for me: give me a secure job, lots
of money, respect in the community, it would interesting and fun
- -I eventually realized that I needed to be
willing to not follow my dream, if it was not the way God wanted to use me to
“love others”
- -During this period of considering giving up my
dream, God wound up changing my motivation for becoming a doctor, but not
changing the dream itself
o
Matthew 25: 34-40: Then the King will say…come
you who are blessed by my father…for I was hungry and you gave me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked
after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will
say, “ Lord, when did we see you hungry …when did we see you sick?” The King
will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me”
o
Psalms 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart."
4. The story of how God has made my life look different in
Medical School
- -I have been able to pray for and with patients,
I love the fact that as a doctor I can offer “physical healing” and as a
Christian I can also offer them “spiritual healing”
o
This is the style of ministry that Jesus did,
there are lots of stories where Jesus went to a town and he miraculously healed
the blind, the crippled, the deaf the lepers, but at the same time he preached
to the people about God and he told them about eternal life with God
- - Being a Christian has also change the way that I
look at patients- I try to see people the way God does (he loves them all the
same)
o
For me, that has meant withholding judgment to a
person who is an alcoholic or obese
o
Jesus
showed love to the most evil people in his world, tax collectors who exploited
the poor and prostitutes
- -Even my choice to be in Peru right now, I
believe that I followed the voice of God here, as a trial period to see if God
wants to use me as a doctor not to make a lot of money or be impressive in the
USA, but rather to use the gifts he has given me to serve others and tell them
about Jesus
Excellent
ReplyDelete