Watch: Shirley’s testimony

Shirley grew up pleasing her parents and seeking their approval. As a result, she became very performance-oriented and struggled with trusting God to bring salvation to her family. One day, she saw Jesus speak directly to her in a vision, asking her if she would trust Him. After placing her faith in God’s love for her family, Shirley witnessed several family members turn to Jesus too. Praise God! Watch her testimony.

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Video transcript

At the end of the prayer time, I realised how my love for my family was only representing a tiny, tiny, tiny portion of God’s love for them.

And His grace is truly sufficient enough for my family.

I’m Shirley, I was born and raised into a very traditional Chinese family who values performance and wealth. Growing up as a kid, my parents often pushed me to get good grades at school.

And I was also pushed to sign up for a lot of extracurricular activities and ultimately, to try to prepare my CV to look amazing for the future.

So as a kid, we were often punished by our parents, but then my parents never explained why we were punished. So a lot of time, my siblings and I develop this hypervigilance inside us that we would constantly observe our parents’ emotions, reactions, or actions in order to decide what we ought to do.

It’s only until the third year of my university life that come to a point that I need to think for myself. So, at the final year, I went to my parents and asked them, “What should I do next?” But then my parents, surprisingly, told me that, “Hey, you can do whatever you like to do.”

But then that left me feeling very, very confused, because I always do what my parents had asked me to do.

And this is the very first time I need to do it and think for myself. And then I just took a look at the society and observed there seemed a formula of life that you would go to get good grades at school, you would go and get a well-paid job, and then marry to a nice husband, buy a big house – and that’s what life was all about.

And as I observed this norm in the culture, I felt very hopeless and depressed, because deep down in my heart, I was constantly asking, “Is there something more about this life I was living?”

There is one summer that I was invited to Alpha to explore Christianity in a safe environment.

So through Alpha, I learnt about Jesus and what He has done on the cross for me. And at the end of the Alpha session, I dedicated my life to Lord Jesus.

And soon after, I spent so much time doing a lot of things at church, serving in different capacities and different ministries. And ultimately again, I repeated what I’ve been doing at home, trying to do a lot of things in order to please, in order to earn affirmation, in order to get acknowledgement from people.

I learnt about who Father God is, His character – but all this to me was just head knowledge.

I never actually felt God’s love for me and how He actually care for me – until a point of time where I was praying with a group of women.

So during that prayer time, a lady was prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask me the questions, “Do you know how your father feels for you?” And surprisingly, I immediately broke down into tears because ever since I was a little child, my father had never expressed how he feel for me. All the needs as a child, as a girl – to be cared for, to be loved, to be affirmed, to be encouraged, to be nurtured, to be disciplined – all these needs were unmet.

Going to church is like the solution, that I can finally have all these unmet needs met

And the Holy Spirit showed me a picture of how my family is being caged, with the door unlocked, and Jesus was standing outside the cage. My family has been actively involved in idol worship and a lot of occult, which sadly separate them from God. Jesus was inviting me to come out to the cage and go to His side.

Leaving my family in the cage is just like abandoning my family and I was so reluctant to leave the cage to go to Jesus’ side.

Jesus was asking me, “Do you trust Me? Do you let Me take over and be there for your family?”

Immediately, I just prayed to God that, “God, I would just release my family into Your sovereignty.” And I was telling God, that it’s no longer my burden, but Yours. And this is a huge relief.

I realised all I need to do is just rest in His sovereignty.

And after that prayer, my sister accepted Christ, my brother accepted Christ, my mom accepted Christ as well. Within a short period of time, God really shows me that He is a God who is mighty, who is able, who never fails, and whose word is always true, that His love for His children is everlasting.

I want to encourage you that God has not yet done with you. Your life and your family’s life is still in His mighty hands. So, trust Him, take faith in Him, hope in Him. It is not up to us. It is not based on what we have done or have not done. It’s all because of the love of Jesus Christ.

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