Unlock the Secrets of Resilience and Faith

I liked to consider myself a free thinker who had liberated himself from religion or any oth- er humanistic idea that attempts to define the meaning of life. In my view, neither man nor God had the right to control the will of anyone. As free agents, we are all left to explore our own truths. Sovereign over my own existence, I alone defined reality, no matter how I chose to perceive it. Nevertheless, while I loved the idea that this mindset originated from me alone, I soon recognized that I was merely a human reacting to the circumstances surrounding me.

From the advent of my self-awareness came shame, anger, apathy, and agnosticism. The inclination to discover meaning compelled me to find greater insights into the purpose of life. That pursuit led me to nurture my personal intellect as a necessary component of my self-worth. As a result, I indulged in the preoccupation of gratifying my own ego and un- yielding self-interest. In time, God became insufficient and nihilism, the acceptance that life has no meaning, dominated my being. That journey eventually left me empty, and the fullness of my own vanity was found futile. Yet, even from the depths of that emptiness, a seed of hope invaded my mind. Out of that hollowed identity, my mind and soul discovered objective truth, my own iniquity, and the need for salvation.

Antithetical to my youthful arrogance and informal intellectualism, I soon discovered that a purposeless universe was not a fundamental truth. God, in His divine aseity, creator of all space, time, matter, and life, set into motion a plan for the reconciliation of His creation. He provided the world a superior path to redemption through His Son’s life, death, and the crux of His Lordship – His resurrection. Those actions brought forth abundant grace and absolute propitiation for my own sin. Because of His love, I was inspired to follow that transcendent God who was, who is, and who will always be. God, as revealed through His Son, only required that I believe, receive, and follow in His goodness. As I learned of God’s Son, I observed Him to be superior to me, yet relatable as a human. At the conclusion of my search, the person I found – or honestly, who found me – was Jesus Christ, a man rooted in the Middle East, with a message of salvation for every willing tribe throughout the world. God, as revealed through His Son, is the quintessential representation of love and hope.