For me, being a Methodist is really about living in the constant awareness of God’s grace. I’ve come to see and experience it in different ways—God’s prevenient grace that sought me out before I even knew him, his justifying grace that saved me and his sanctifying grace that continues to shape me into the person he wants me to be. My faith is not about how much I can do for God, but about his ongoing work in me.
I grew up practising another religion. At the age of 18, I wasn’t searching for God but God was searching for me. He used a church camp to open my eyes to who Jesus really is, and it was there that I came to the faith.
In my third year as a teacher, I began to sense God’s prompting to leave the classroom and step into full-time ministry. But I resisted. Yet for three years, he didn’t give up on me. He kept nudging, calling and patiently pursuing me until I finally surrendered to his call. Again and again, it was his grace that carried me through.
Today, I serve in full-time ministry, but I know it is not by my own strength. It is not by power, not by might, but by his Spirit. It is his grace that allows me to do what I do.