TESTIMONY MONDAY – VERONICA THOMSON, VENEZUELA
I was born in the South American country of Venezuela, to a Christian family. Attending meetings and Sunday school was a big part of my life while growing up, which means I grew up hearing the Gospel. One day, when I was around 10 years old, my Sunday school teacher asked the students in our class if any of us were saved. I said I was, even providing her with a date. I remember some Sundays following how she told the class that they needed to trust the Saviour, as she and I had done. Time went by, and I kept believing I was right with God; I attended all meetings with my parents and at some point I started to read my Bible every day. In late 2007, when I was 14, a friend two years older than me, who was part of the assembly, withdrew from the assembly fellowship upon realizing she was not saved (she got saved a few months later). This struck me hard due to the fact that I always looked up to her as an example, and made me feel troubled and doubtful about my own salvation.
During the first week of the year 2008, we attended a bimonthly ministry meeting in another assembly. It was probably the first time I had paid deep attention to ministry. Brother Samuel Ussher Jr spoke on a verse that pierced my heart:
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Hosea 10:12
He emphasized the words, “IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD.” After that ministry, all I could think of was the fact that for me it was TIME to be sure and serious about eternity. I understood the Gospel: that all have sinned, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that we could have eternal life by believing and accepting the Lord as Saviour. I also knew that if I died, or when the Lord would come, I was destined to be in hell for all eternity. During those first weeks of January, I spent nights kneeling beside my bed, struggling with doubts, longing to have assurance, and asking God to show me if I was saved. This continued until the night of January 20th when the Lord answered my prayers. I realized I was not saved when I started digging down through my memories, trying to remember what had happened on that day I had said I was saved. I could not remember anything at all, I just had a date. At that moment I realized I was lost and nothing else mattered to me but to be saved. I knelt beside my bed and some verses I had learned in Sunday school came to my mind: first John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
Then I thought of Psalm 8:3-4:
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”
Psalm 8:3-4
Being a nature lover, that verse made me feel unworthy of His love as I knew I was a sinner. I also thought of the death of the Lord on the cross and cried out many times, as Peter did when he was sinking, “Lord save me!” Shortly after, I had the certainty that the Lord had heard and saved me. Then I lay down in my bed and a well-known hymn came to my mind, so I started to sing it with joy and peace in my heart.
Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears.
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.
It has been 13 years since that day which I cannot forget, and the hope of meeting my Saviour in heaven still burns brightly within my heart.
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