Ten years later…reasons to be thankful

 

 

By Monica Carvajal

 

I left Colombia, my home country, 10 years ago today. Tears and fears, dreams and expectations where my daily bread both before and after I boarded the plane to go from Bogota to Madrid.

I was leaving behind friends and family. I was saying goodbye to my parents, my oldest sister, and to all people who had supported and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. And soon, with God’s help, I would be greeted on the other side of the planet by my twin sister.

I was, however, not sure what God’s plan for my life was, nor did I knew for sure what my own plan was. I was trying to live a dream that at the first seemed more like a nightmare. I was trying to believe that I was happy, free, and able to overcome my own fears and insecurities. It was not easy: It was painful, it was hard, and it was a journey that I thought I was doing all by myself. Thank God I was wrong.

I did not know that I was being accompanied until my eyes were opened and I could see clearly.

Now, looking back, I can see clearly. I wasn’t alone. God was always there. He was with me and He is still by my side. He was cleansing the way, washing my heart, purifying my life and orchestrating all the details to achieve His purpose, His perfect will for my life.

So today, exactly ten years after the beginning of this journey, I want to share with all of you all my reasons to be thankful.

 

Salvation

The crucial moment to see my sin and seek God’s forgiveness came when He in His providence took me to Spain. I thought that in Spain I could go on with my life while I was planning to study to continue growing in my professional career, but God’s plan was different than mine. He was preparing my heart to know Him in a real way; He was preparing me for a heart transplant.

Even though I was with my best friend, my sister, in Spain I was far away from everything I knew, and it was there when I realized that I did not have control over my life. It was one of the most humbling moments of my life because in Colombia I believed to have everything under control, and once in Spain I realized that I had neither a purpose nor a plan.

The Lord showed me that I needed Him to live; He showed me my inability. He taught me that everything I had in Colombia – my family, friends, a job, money, etc. – were gifts that came to me directly from His hands. He showed me that He had taken everything from me to teach me that He is the giver of every good thing. Moreover, He helped me to understand that when I lost everything, I really won everything when I met Him.

I understood that all my life I was trying to earn the love of others, while I was ignoring the true love which can be only found in God. How could I have lived like that? I was deceived by my own ideas about love, until I finally knew the love of God and His righteousness. I understood that His love has been revealed toward us in the person of His Son Christ Jesus. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

What did He do? He died for me. I recognized that my sin brought Him to the cross, and that He had paid the price for my sin there, the price for my pride, my selfishness, my self-righteousness, and my idolatry, because I loved others and I gave them the first love of my heart, while I removed Him from the place only He deserves.

In that moment when I had nothing, I discovered that I had everything. I had faith, it was the only thing I had never lost. I had faith in God and I knew that He had a plan and a purpose for my life.

I began to study theology in an evangelical seminary in Madrid. Christ Jesus became for me a real person to follow, instead of a religion. I understood that I have been created to be a worshiper of God, and to please Him. In that moment the desire to please man declined and I understood what the real purpose of my life was; I understood that the purpose was not to earn money, have a successful career, be admired, envied or approved by others. I understood that I could be free of the sin that bound me, I could be free of the selfish desires of my life. I knew that Christ Jesus changed my heart, and with my new heart new desires and motives found a place within me. I understood that I was in the place where God wanted me, doing what He wanted of me, receiving training to serve Him and having a life of communion with Him.

I felt free, free of the weight of the bondage to sin and to men for the first time in my life. I was free to be in the place God wanted me to be, free to worship Him and be grateful to Him for His love and for the free gift of His grace.

Although faith alone is necessary for salvation, baptism is the testimony of our faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Mark 16:16 says, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” So by the grace of God I had the privilege a few years later of being baptized by giving testimony of my personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to demonstrate the new life that I received by believing, as Romans 6: 4 says, “therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

 

My own family

It is great to have parents and sisters and I love them and pray for them every day. However, I was praying for my own family, for a godly husband who loves the Lord, and once again God gave me the desire of my heart.

The Lord brought into my life a man who loves Him, loves His Word and wants to be a godly husband and father for our daughter. He is the head of our family and although he is not perfect, neither am I, but we are working together to be more like Christ: To do our best, to share our faith not only with our beautiful daughter but with anyone who God bring into our lives.

My husband has taught me so many things, from cooking to how to have a biblical worldview, about the world and life. We have been married eight years and every day is more wonderful and special than the day before. We have learned so much during these years. God has taught us to wait on Him by constantly reminding us of what His Word says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

The Lord has exhorted us to seek him in prayer as Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” He also has reminded us in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” Although it has not always been easy, God has blessed us by doing all things much more abundantly than we ask or understand, therefore to Him be the glory in Christ Jesus.

I thank God that this wonderful man who has helped me to grow in faith, waited for me and chose me to be his perfect help and to serve and worship God together. I am certain that my heavenly Father had our marriage in mind from eternity past, and I pray that God will allow me to be not only the wife that He wants me to be, but also the mother, the daughter, the sister, the woman that He wants from me.

A wonderful daughter

I have had the privilege of experiencing an adventure and a challenge that God has put in my way with her own name: Abigail.

Being Abigail’s mother has transformed and completely changed me. I would never have imagined the love I could feel for a person in such a short time. I thank God so much for allowing me to experience the blessing of being her mother, as James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Although at this stage of her life Abigail is learning to live and to develop in this world, I can say that both my husband and I are learning a lot from her.

We are learning that just as Abigail relies on us to eat, dress, bathe, and learn the basics of life, we depend on God for everything, as Matthew 6: 8 says, “… for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

We are learning to trust God as she does with us, knowing that He always wants the best for us and hurts when we disobey and we do not hear His voice. His commandments have been given to protect us, not to harm us, as Deuteronomy 6:24 says, “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today.”

Although we love Abigail in an incalculable way, that love has reminded us that God loves us more than we can love her. He loves us because He created us, He made us in His image and likeness, and He chose us and adopted us as His children, as Romans 8:29 says, “for those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (Christ Jesus), so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

I also thank Him for knowing His Word so that I can teach Abby His ways, pray for her, and as Ephesians 6:4 teaches, raise her in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.

Finally, I thank Him for encouraging me to share with her all that He has done in my life, exhorting me in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.”

Learning from different cultures

I have lived in Spain, Canada and the United States. I have experienced cultural differences, and I have benefited from being exposed to other points of view and other forms of life. My understanding of the world has expanded thanks to the multiculturalism existing in these countries. I have met people from different countries, such as Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Romania, Singapore, South Africa and Uganda, among others.

It is incredible that all – Whites, Blacks, Indians, Asians, etc., absolutely all – have been created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), and as Acts 10:34b-35 says, “… God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”

Acts 17:26 states, “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.”

Living, studying and working in other countries

 Spain

God allowed me to be part of a large family, Sefovan (Evangelical Seminary of Theological Formation and Evangelization), and at the same time gave me friendships that have become a blessing for my life over the years.

During my time at Sefovan, I learned that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, without error in the original manuscripts, as 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

I also understood there that we are saved only by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that by accepting His sacrifice on the cross, we are declared righteous before God and adopted into His family. The death of Christ is the only and sufficient sacrifice for our salvation, not works nor membership in a church or organization. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Sefovan helped me to fulfill the great commission found in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I understood that sharing the Gospel, the Good News, is a privilege and a responsibility that all believers have before God.

Thanks to Sefovan and the reading of books by Pastor John MacArthur, among other authors, I could feel the urgency of sharing the Gospel with family and friends. Thus, my earthly father came to understood the concept of grace, which is the undeserved favor of God, by sending His son to die on a cross, thus offering eternal salvation.

I had the privilege of being part of a church where the pastor was a man with a humble heart and willing to be used by God. That wonderful man left a few weeks ago to meet his Savior, and has left a profound impact on the lives of all those people who had the privilege of listening to him and seeing the example of his faith. His marriage lasted 50 years, and his wife is a godly woman who loves God and has been a blessing to my life.

Canada

God taught my husband and I to wait on Him while we were in Canada. It was a time that although difficult, was necessary. I improved my English there, and spent much time reading the Bible and praying, seeking the will of God. I could not imagine how God would open doors for us in the future while I was there. During this time God was preparing the circumstances to fulfill His will in our lives. Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.”

United States

God has made me feel as if I have a family in the United States where I do not have a biological one. He has given me brothers in the faith who have taken care of me with their love and guided me, exhorted, encouraged and discipled me with their words, their example of faith and their walk with Christ.

I have benefited from the teachings and example of godly women that God has put in my way and who fulfill the teaching of Titus 2: 3-5, which says, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

I also had the privilege of working at Grace to You, the Spanish ministry of Pastor John MacArthur, and I must say, that only by the grace of God I was able to serve His people through this ministry that has impacted my spiritual life in a powerful way.

I have also had the opportunity to study biblical counseling and I have been able to disciple and counsel women during these years. Studying biblical counseling helped me to understand that the problem of humankind is the heart and not a behavioral issue. Mankind sins because we are sinners at heart; we are not sinners because we sin. The only solution to change the heart is by the work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart through the Word of God, as Heb. 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Traveling

 

Israel

Visiting Israel has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and one that has transformed not only the way in which I read the Bible, but also the way in which I understand the world around me. It has been an experience that has opened my eyes to the reality of how God fulfills His promises to His chosen people.

Having visited the land where God Himself, Emmanuel, God with us, walked beside sinful human beings, not only to teach us how to live a life of humility and love, but to provide the salvation that God wants for men, has been an experience that has transformed my spiritual life.

This journey to Israel reminded me that someday the Lord Jesus will sit on His throne in Jerusalem and He will rule the world with righteousness, as Jeremiah 3:17 says, “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.”

 

United States

I have also had the privilege of traveling to 41 of the 50 states of the United States. As I traveled through this wonderful land and was seeing the beautiful national parks, and the countryside it made my heart rejoice and praise God for His creation and creativity. At the same time, seeing the variety of people who live in this vast country has shown me that God is good to us all and that this is truly a land of opportunities for those who know how to take advantage of them.

I am convinced that God has blessed this nation because of its constant support to Israel as Psalm 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.” May God allow that the next President of the United States will resume his commitment to support Israel, so that His blessing will be displayed upon this nation.

Other places

 

During these ten years I have experienced that what Matthew 6:33 says, “but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” is a reality in the life of everyone who recognizes his sin, repents, confesses and receives the righteousness of Christ as his own. I have been adopted into the family of God and I can gladly thank Him for all His blessings.

Thanks for reading.

Mónica