Divine Testimonies

The testimony that follows is a fulfilment of God’s plan. I headed down to London and decided to visit my pastor at her house. Just after our conversation, we had a sudden pause then suddenly she said, “The Holy Spirit has just interceded with me that God is preparing a Christian girl for you. You will soon be married and share the Gospel of Jesus together.” 

I said, “No way! I’ve been single all my life. There is a reason why God wants me to be single; it will never happen.” 

Around July/ August 2011, I had been going to the spa for my regular back treatment. The girl that worked at the spa that I see regularly was going on holiday to Greece, so in her absence, another girl took her place. During the appointment, we were talking about the London riots that were going on at that time. 

During our discussion, she asked me a question that took me by surprise! “Are you a Christian?” I replied without hesitation, “Yes, I am.” She replied, “Aww, me too.” We had an open discussion about our Christian faith and Christianity as a whole. I told her that I used to sing in the choir for just over 13 years until the Holy Spirit told me to leave. I spoke about all the problems that happened during those years when going to church and when singing in the choir. 

As we continued talking, I shared the Vision of Hell that I had and spoke about how Jesus saved me. She told me that she loves reading people’s testimonies and hearing about how Jesus had turned their lives around. She said that she had heard many stories from people about how Jesus had saved them from prostitution, gangs, drugs, etc. 

She continued saying that her current boyfriend wasn’t a Christian and how difficult she finds it to talk about her faith to him, so she often keeps quiet. 

I said to her, “Well if one day he ever asks you any questions or seeks advice about your Christian faith or anything related, you are there to give him those answers.” The night before, I was watching bits of a YouTube documentary video called, “They sold their souls for Rock N Roll.” 

Suddenly she said to me, “Music has a lot to do with turning people into doing terrible things, and the videos and lyrics have a strong influence on them. Some music brainwashes them, and Satan uses that as a tool.” 

I said, “Wow! I was just watching this video documentary last night about music and how much influence the music has on young people today.”

I asked her a question, “Can you give me an honest opinion? Do you think the world is heading downhill with the things going on in the world and the collapse of the economy? Like people turning away from God, fewer people are attending church or worshipping?” She said, “Yes, I do think it is heading that way. My father and my mother also have said that time is running out, and God is coming back soon!” 

As we were discussing further, we both spoke about how hard it is when we are around friends or work colleagues who swear a lot, take the Lord’s name in vain and are mostly non-Christian. We both agreed that so many people including the church are asleep. 

She also said, “In a music video of Madonna, she said to the audience, ‘You will all receive a mark and belong as one.’ “I then noticed a flashing symbol on the screen, which lasted a good while.” I said in response, “The mark of the beast.” She said, “Yes, I found it very disturbing.” After my appointment, I gave her my email so I could send her the link to my testimony on YouTube. 

Later while at work, I heard the Lord and He said to me, “Print your testimony on paper and give it to her.” I printed my testimony out and headed back to the spa and handed her the paper, and she said, “What is this?” I said, “I’m giving you a printed copy of my testimony for you.” She said, “Aww! Thank you so much, Richard. This will keep me busy on the bus when I go home.” 

My heart had been hardened for a very long time. So much so that I started to believe that I never wanted a girlfriend or even wanted to get married. I lived by that false belief for over thirty years. Even though it was a lie, deep down inside of me, I was protecting myself from harm because of what happened to me in the past. At first, I thought this was the Christian girl God was preparing for me. God had brought the two of us together. 

Both of us were like-minded, strong believers in God. But I later learned the reason why we came across each other. It was to allow my heart to soften, before God prepared the true Christian girl for me. It was a painful process as I started to have a mix of feelings— one of sadness and confusion and the other of happiness because I thought I had found someone just like me. 

I started saying to myself, “This is so unfair; I don’t want to be alone!” I heard the Holy Spirit keep saying to me, “You do not know God’s plan. You must be patient and wait.” I knew my heart was hardened when it came to finding a partner, and I would always convince myself that I was meant to be single. But after this encounter with this Christian girl, I started to look inward and saw my true self, and I did not like what I saw. 

I started to say to myself, “Why is my heart like a rock and so cold? Please heal this heart of mine!” I later found out that the Christian girl had to quit her job because she lived outside of the city, and it would take her over an hour and a half to get to work. She couldn’t do the travelling each day with all the traffic on the road. I was not sure what was next for me, but I started to feel inner peace, calm, and more warmth in me that I had never felt before. 

God had given me something to look forward to, that there was someone out there for me that had the same mind-set, personality and faith as me. So that had given me hope! Later that evening, I called Pastor Anne and had just finished speaking to her about the situation, and this is what she said, 

“The Lord has already revealed to you the answers about the situation with this girl. Do not be discouraged about what the Holy Spirit has told me that I told you, that you would meet a Christian girl. God has opened your heart and has now made you realise you can’t be on your own; you need someone, and they need you! You must let your heart be still, and in nine months’ time, the Christian girl will make herself known to you.” 

I had always wanted to go to the Holy Land. I did a little research and found a company called Christian Worldwide Travels. I chose the Holy Land tour that interested me and got all the details and prices from the company. Being excited about potentially going to Israel, I phoned my mother and told her about my heading to Israel. 

Her response was not what I was expecting. She started to get angry and very vocal, and she started by saying, “You are not going to Israel! Are you crazy? Do you want to get yourself killed or blown up? You are not going!” I started to rebuke her empty scare tactics, but she kept on and started to scream and shout down into the phone, the more I refused to listen. Eventually, I began to get worn down, I ran out of energy, and I then decided to cancel the whole trip. 

A few days passed and I heard the Lord say to me, “Do not let her stop you from going to the Holy Land. If you want to go, you should go. It is important that you go. Trust me, go and make the reservation.” I booked the trip for the 1st of May 2012, and I then spoke to my mother and told her that I was going. As expected, she was not happy and started to shout at me again down into the phone. I told her that it was too late, everything had been booked. 

After my trip to Israel, I had my back treatment booked in again at the spa. When I arrived, one of the girls that I usually see informed me that there was a girl that was interested in meeting up with me. She said, “While you were away, this girl comes in to get her eyebrows done, and she mentioned to me that she was trying to book a trip to Israel for her mother and sister. I told her that you were there now and that you would be back next week." 

She asked me if she could have your number so she can talk to you about it. At first, I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say, but I finally had the courage to say “Yes” in giving this girl my number. We finally made contact and had a meal, and I talked to her about my trip. After all these years of being on my own and suffering so much, I thought there was no one out there for me. 

But after meeting with her, things just grew and grew, and suddenly we were close friends. As the weeks went by, I shared my testimony with her about how Christ saved me, and she watched my video when she got home. Two months went by, and we both felt the same way about each other. 

We wanted to be more than friends, and so we became boyfriend and girlfriend. God’s promise that he would bring a Christian girl into my life had finally come full circle. As I mentioned earlier, my Pastor had said to me when she first spoke that “in nine months’ time, the Christian girl will make herself known to you.” She said this in September 2011, and we met on June 6th, 2012, exactly nine months later, just as God had said! 

I couldn’t believe it, another verification from God that He truly did bring us together. We finally got married, and again, to our amazement; we got married on June 7th, 2014, the day after we initially met. God is at the centre of our marriage, even during its ups and downs. The Lord is there. He has blessed and sanctified this marriage and has a great calling for the both of us in the future. 

I thank God for not only keeping His promise as He always does but for loving me so much, bringing the two of us together. God is worthy of all the praise and thanks because of what He has done. God is there and will always be there for all of humanity, even if people choose to believe in Him or not. I know for a fact that God is real, and this is one of many wonderful things He has done for me! Praise God and Glorify his Holy Name!

.  

By

Richard Kansley