It’s Not Me but Christ Within Me: How God Used a Shy Teen to Change a Life
- meetgodattheedgeof
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
Today's testimony is brought to you by our Heavenly Father.
The Lord gave me this memory — one that’s far beyond my normal memory capabilities. I was 15 years old at the time. The church I attended had a night where small groups would go out to share the Lord with others. For a shy kid like me, that was no easy task.
With encouragement from my dad and friends, I pushed through my fear and went along. We decided to head to the movie theater — it was crowded, full of people, and full of opportunity. After walking around a bit, I finally felt bold enough to start asking people if they believed in Jesus. To my surprise, I got a lot of yeses! That small success gave me even more courage.
Then came the group that intimidated me — the older skater crowd. As I got closer, one guy stood out. He was kind, open, and ready to talk. He asked me a question I wasn’t prepared for: “Do you believe in predestination?”
At 15, I didn’t have the best answer, but I did my best, and he seemed to agree. We talked a little more, then I moved on and joined my friends near a clothing store.
That’s when it happened.
As I walked, I remembered a sermon my dad had preached weeks before — a simple, powerful example of why Jesus had to become human and die for us. Deep in thought, I noticed an older man walking toward the store. I held out a gospel tract and asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?”
The man paused and said, “I’ve been struggling with that.”
I didn’t know what to say. So I just began repeating my dad’s message. I looked down and saw a line of ants trailing toward a trash can. “See those ants?” I said. “How could we warn them that there’s death in that trash can? We can’t. We can yell, stomp, wave our hands—but they’d still follow their instincts right into danger.
Just like Jesus, we would have to become one of them to show them the way—to lead by example. That’s why Jesus came down and lived as a man, to die for our sins. That’s what we could understand—His perfect love, shown through His example.”
When I finished, the man just stared at me. He shook my hand quietly and walked into the store.
Later that night, when we returned to church, I shared my story. Everyone was proud and encouraged me to keep going. I was filled with boldness and ready to do it again.
The next Sunday, my pastor came up and said, “There’s someone I want you to meet.” A man approached, tears in his eyes. “The man you witnessed to last Friday was my brother,” he said. “We hadn’t spoken in years because he didn’t want anything to do with my faith. But that night, he called me crying. He said he was ready to hear more about Jesus. He told me he heard the voice of the Lord through a kid in front of a clothing store.”
As a teenager, I didn’t fully grasp the weight of that moment. But looking back now, I see how powerful it was. Around me stood a group of men fighting back tears, praising God for what He had done.
That night, God used a shy kid to reach a man’s heart and restore a broken relationship — proof that it’s not me but Christ within me who does the real work.
It’s never about our ability, confidence, or words. It’s about His Spirit moving through us when we simply say “yes.”
