Testimony - Natalie Finch
THIS STORY IS REALLY NOT MINE, BUT HIS, AND IT’S NOT OVER YET
A little over two years ago, I completely rejected my family and the faith that I was raised in and moved down to TN to explore a life without God. Up to this point, I had spent many years in a deep state of depression, and I questioned God's goodness and lacked the motivation to develop a meaningful relationship with Him. I saw Christianity as an unfair and limiting prison I needed to break free from.
As a result, I dropped out of college, said and did some very hurtful things to those around me, and ended up seeking to fill that void with a worldly relationship and worldly desires. For a brief moment I thought I'd finally found what I was looking for.
However, ultimately, I discovered that a life separated from God is also one separated from love, peace, joy, and hope. There are no words that adequately describe how miserable my life became in that season. It is only by God's abundant grace and my family's persistent prayers that I eventually came home.
Through my parents’ forgiveness and welcoming me back into their lives, I witnessed God's redemptive forgiveness. The best way I can describe the following months is like someone waking up from a deep sleep. There was no big moment where I suddenly gave my life over to Christ, but slowly, God helped me see my need for change, and my need for grace.
For the first time, I began to recognize my desperate need for Salvation and see the Cross as the only road to freedom. It has taken much intentional and hard work, but over the last year and a half, God has completely transformed my life.
I have been given the great honor of being able to serve with the youth ministry and come alongside kids who are struggling with the same things I’ve struggled with. More recently, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the seminary program here at Chapelgate, with the goal of deepening my relationship with God and pursuing ministry.
If you had asked 18-year-old me what my five-year plan was, it would have included graduating from college, beginning a successful and fulfilling career, and becoming a wife and a mother. I can tell you that's not how things played out, but I have seen God's faithfulness unfold in my life. God saved me from myself.
He has redeemed me out of my slavery to sin. And Christ has given me hope for a future built on a relationship with Him. God is showing me every day that this story is really not mine, but His, and it’s not over yet.