Hi, I’m Sallyanne Wissmann. I live in Brisbane, Australia. I work full time and like a lot of women, I am busy taking on the many roles and responsibilities that come with being a wife, mum, daughter, sister, sister in law, aunt, friend, colleague and manager.
This blog is about my relationship with God. I am sharing it with you in the hope that it will encourage you to seek and know God more fully.
Here’s an insight into my journey of seeking and knowing God…
I became a Christian when I was 7 years old. At this young age I wanted to be in relationship with God but knew that the only way to do this was to accept by faith that Jesus died in my place, he took on himself the punishment for all my wrongdoing and in its place offered total forgiveness and acceptance and eternal relationship with God.
Over the years I have had times when I have focussed on my relationship with God and felt close to Him and other times when I have felt distant from God. God has been constant and I know without any doubt that God has been with me, loving me every day of my life.
Over the last few years, my version of Christianity has involved going to church (but not every week), praying (some days), reading the Bible for myself (not very regularly), spending time with others (but not connecting deeply about living life with God), keeping my faith hidden and in general going it alone. To be honest I let life get in the way of pursing my relationship with God.
For some time I had been feeling increasingly discontent with my version of Christianity. I had no doubt about my salvation that happened when I was 7, but I wasn’t feeling that my relationship with God was what it could be. I was thinking ‘there has to be more than this’, Jesus said ‘I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].’ I wasn’t feeling that this represented me. I was thinking ‘are you real God?’ ‘I can’t hear you’.
God was listening. He used a course that I completed in early 2017 to open my eyes to the truth about myself and my relationship with Him.
Through the gentle prompting of God’s Spirit, I identified that I was relying on my own capabilities to get through life – and it wasn’t working. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t content, I was increasingly anxious and stressed.
I identified the things that controlled me, my internal slave drivers, and the things that had become idols to me, that I turned to instead of God – for me that was my self-sufficiency, fear of what others think, allowing my work to take the best of me, control, approval, independence, achievement and position.
I identified my disappointments in life and relationships that were like chains around my heart, feeding ongoing negativity and constraining me.
And ultimately I identified that I struggled with belief – was God really real and the abundant joyful life spoken of in the Bible for followers of Jesus.
My response was to pray to God, earnestly, praying through all that I had been reflecting on, handing it over to Him, asking for forgiveness for my sin and unbelief and pleading with Him to show himself to me.
I completely surrendered myself, acknowledging that I didn’t want my version of Christianity any more and I didn’t have it in me to live life totally satisfied without God, I invited God and He came. He dealt with everything I had acknowledged and given to Him and in it’s place the Spirit of the living God came and filled me and continues to fill me. God Himself is in and with me – and it’s awesome!
Now I know without a shadow of a doubt that God is real. I have felt His presence. Once again, I have a real tangible relationship with God – what this means for me is that throughout my day I am acknowledging and worshipping God, listening to worship music, spending time reading and meditating on the Bible, having God reveal things to me, praying, being prompted by God’s Spirit to encourage others, pray for others, help others, and talk to others about God and His love for them, being prompted by God’s Spirit when my thoughts, attitudes, words and actions don’t align with His ways so I can confess them and not let them hinder my relationship with God. I am filled with peace, confidence in God and real deep joy.
If you haven’t yet experienced the love and forgiveness of God, God is wanting to meet you and show you His love for you. He is real. Making a decision about faith in what Jesus did for you is the most important decision you will make in life.
Maybe as a Christian you don’t experience the abundant life that Jesus offers – tell God how you feel, ask him to reveal what you have put in his place in your life, confess it before him and ask him to take you on a journey of discovery with him. He doesn’t want you to be a lukewarm, unfulfilled, unsatisfied Christian, Jesus came to give you abundant, joy filled life. The Bible says ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you’. Earnestly seek Him until he answers.
No matter what stage of life you are at and what responsibilities you have – living life without God as the primary focus of your life does not bring true happiness and contentment. There is a place in our being that only God can fill. He wants to fill it, if we will let Him.
If you are reading this blog, I have prayed for you that your heart, mind and soul would be open to seeking and finding God.