The Writing Artist
Seedgift@aol.com
I stood gazing out the window that one particular day, trying to envision what it would be like to be out of Complacency USA--another place, another time--doing something worthwhile, but what exactly I had not a clue. Yet there was something--a yearning deep within that had brought me to this place again--thinking what it would be like not to be me but someone else--successful. There must be more to life than what I know of what I am, to fill this empty void of loneliness, I thought. Then I looked up into the sky and said, "God, if You are real, I need You now." It was a cry for help that turned my life around. You see, I was an alcoholic when I cried out. A backslider who was saved at the age of 8, but left my Father's House at 17--not knowing what it meant to be born again.
I returned to my heavenly Father in March 1983, 17 years later, when I repented of my sins. Repentance is "a decision that results in a change of mind, which in turn leads to a change of purpose and action," says Jack W. Hayford. I agreed. I turned off the wide road to destruction and entered the narrow gate where Jesus Christ is the Door to abundant life (John 10:7). I was miraculously delivered from my ten-year alcohol addiction in May 1986, by an anointed hand sending what felt like a bolt of electricity through my body, and filled with the Holy Spirit in August 1986. Then in October 1989 God said, "I have called and chosen you to be a light unto me. Right now eyes are upon you. I have given you precious promises. My grace will be sufficient for you." Some time later, His still small voice whispered, "I have enough preachers, I need someone to show them how."
Five years later, I was on a journey of faith to fulfill God’s intended purpose for me--going through to get through to my destiny. I was walking by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) through the fire of change in my homeless state. My mind was being renewed as I changed my attitude and rose to God’s altitude. I likened myself to a caterpillar as I was being prepared to spread my wings. I was changing to fit the precious promise, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). The transformation process of the caterpillar paralleled to my transformation state. What an awesome change for the two of us--the caterpillar and me. It gaining wings of perfection and colors of distinction, and I wings of humbled wisdom as a woman of excellence. Now the butterfly flies high above the rest, landing on top and not the bottom as it once did as a caterpillar, while I surpassed my own anticipated accomplishment--in training my mind to excel.
Ironically, I left God at 17 (1966) for 17 years--coming back 17 years later (1983), then it took 17 years (1983-2000) before I would fly like a butterfly, dropping seeds for other caterpillars to become butterflies.
~Sandy Cotton, The Writing Artist
Do you know for certain that if you died tonight that you would go to heaven? This is the most important question of your life. If you are not absolutely certain, please contact me or visit this link.