A disadvantages I had as a pastor was that I grew up in the church. Why is that a problem? Because I can’t remember a time when God wasn’t real to me. I didn’t come from unbelief to belief. I didn’t even have that experience of a person who drops out of the church in their teens or twenties and returns some years later. I don’t have any personal experience of what it means to be converted to the faith.

To make up for my lack of experience, I’ve paid close attention to stories of conversions, like that of English actor David Suchet, best known for his performance as Agatha Christe’s detective Hercule Poirot. Suchet grew up in a non-religious household. His father was of Jewish background, but didn’t observe the religion.

Suchet turned to Christianity in 1986, when he turned 40. He was in Seattle making a film at the time. He describes it this way: “I was in a hotel room and I picked up a Bible and read Paul’s Letter To The Romans. By the end of that letter, I had seen and read about a way of life to which I wanted to aspire. I thought: ‘This is what I have been looking for all my life.’”

I have always doubted that a person could come to faith merely through reading Scripture, but Suchet’s experience has changed my opinion on that. I see that each person’s faith story is unique. There’s no standard formula. Such is the mysterious way God works.

What’s your faith story?

Read Galatians 1:13-24 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne