Obedience - My 2018 testimony.
Man, what a journey 2018 was.
At the end of the 2017, I was completely lost. I was so lost in my faith that I had forgotten what it meant to be a child of God and all the things He had done for me in the past. Then it hit me hard. He hit me with the most blessed year I could have asked for. Actually, no; He blessed me way more than I could have even imagined.
To bring everyone up to speed, 2017 was just a blur. I don’t remember much of it even though it wasn’t that long ago. The only positive thing I remembered was doing great and being complimented at my job. But the biggest thing was that in 2017, I lost sight of God. Like.. really lost sight of God. Hyoeun still brings up the fact that she was so scared for me when I told her, “I don’t even know if I love God anymore.” Now looking back, I wanted to take a shortcut; I wanted to just have an easy life. I was making and saving a lot of money and thinking that I needed to work for my faith. Now that, the working for my faith thing, to me, was just annoying. I had excuses to not go to church, thinking I will be in Seattle soon with Hyoeun, that I can just wait until then. But towards the end of the year I had a huge problem with my relationship with Hyoeun. God decided to throw a wrench in our relationship and ultimately, my plans. Hyoeun had a huge fight with her parents about me. They hated me, didn’t want to even think about me when Hyoeun told them that I wanted to move here. They made her promise that we will stay long distance until she finishes medical school. I decided to listen and respect their decisions, no matter how hurt or mad I was.
That was back in Dec 2017 and now it’s Dec 2018 and I’m in Seattle. To top things off, her parents know about it and aren’t disapproving at all. How did that happen? When I think about it, I really can’t help but to be amazed and what God can do when you are obedient.
I did not have an excuse anymore. Time to go out of my comfort zone and find a church. Time to work hard to meet people when I could have it easy and stay with my high school friends and play video games. I did all this through obedience to God and through faith that He will provide something to me that will help me get through 2018. I was prepared for the worst. I was doubtful that my relationship with Hyoeun was going to last. I mean, can we even do long distance for three years, let alone throughout her medical school like her parents wanted?
I started going to a church called Epiccentre in Pasadena and quickly went to a bible study named Candid. At my first bible study since it was almost the new year, we went over what God wants our next year to be like. I wrote down the word “Obedience.” I wrote that because I wanted to be obedient again. I wanted to find a good church and a solid community that I can grow with. But God used that word and revealed so much more to me about what it truly truly means to be obedient to Him. Throughout this year, here are some ways that I decided to listen to Him and not myself. Each of these snippets could have been it’s own blog. Probably will get to that at some point.
I wanted to not meet new people and just be with Hyoeun, my old friends, and my family.
But God wanted me to go to church and find a solid Christian community.
Through obedience,
I met my bible study group through church and was blessed with a new family.
To: Mel Brian, Francesca, Steven, Hanna, Dustin, Hannah, Eric, Amy, Andrew, Leona, Ben, Julia, Emily, Addison.
I have never met a group of people so remarkable and loving as you guys. In many ways, you know more of me than my family and my friends of 10+ years. To me, that’s something that only God can achieve. It’s kinda crazy to think we only knew each other for less than a year and could be so close to each other. Really, ALL glory to God for that.
In the middle of 2018, I received a job offer in the Bay Area. I wanted to take it for only one reason. It was more than twice the salary I was currently making.
Hyoeun and I were arguing whether or not I should take the job, and God LITERALLY intervened and said, “Don’t take the money.”
Through obedience,
I got a new job offer in Seattle where I was closer to her with almost the same amount as the one I turned down. And I took the Seattle one not with money in my mind but with community and God instead.
This was seriously of the times where God felt so tangible. It was really the work of the Holy Spirit, and I have been meaning to blog about this in depth.
I wanted to move to Seattle earlier towards the end of 2017 to be with Hyoeun.
God, through Hyoeun parents, wanted me to stay in L.A. and find Him without Hyoeun and find community on my accord.
Through obedience,
I am now blessed to be in Seattle with Hyoeun. I want to say that in 2017, her parents didn’t want to even talk about me. Heck, even in the middle of 2018, her parents still did not like me. It was really tough;, I want to say that 80% of the fights we had were about her parents. Her parents came up whenever we felt fear, insecurity, anger, or loneliness. But through Christ, many prayers, and obedience, her parents hearts softened and came to accept me.
I am proud of my faith. God is so great, and throughout 2018, He has shown how loving He truly is. He loves us so much that He can redeem even me, someone who is so broken and almost lost sight of Him.
When you are lost and unsure of what to do, be assured that God is before you and already has a plan set out for specifically YOU.
He knows you more than you know yourself. You don’t have to be scared of the unknown or your future. I am not close to anyone in Seattle besides Hyoeun but that doesn’t really matter.
The same God is with me no matter whether I am in Los Angeles or in Seattle.
2018 taught me a lot. So so much. But ultimately, I couldn’t have done any of it without God.
Thank for reading guys. Talk to me about Jesus. Steven