I gave my life to Christ when I was in the Secondary school. I was in Form 4 (like today’s Senior Secondary 1 – SS1) . And I was very fervent for the Lord, preaching in the Chapel and leading some group of students to village Crusades and revival outside the school compound.

We were known in the whole school. We were known to be Christians and highly respected by some and despised by others. We were so fervent and also feared by some other students. Whenever I would preach in the chapel, the hall would be full and everyone would be expectant.

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I had preached in the chapel on one Sunday and led some students to Christ, only to step out of the Chapel after the service and slapped heavily before other students by an angry senior student who said I had preached about him.

This fervency continued till we graduated from the secondary school. Then, the pressures of the youths and friends began to make me lose my sights of heaven and fervency of the Spirit.

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Then, I began to feel so tired in my Spirit and soul. I began to get fed up with Christian life. I began to think of walking away from God. I began to tend towards worldliness.

I began to tone my face and curl my hair. I began to read bad novels. I began to walk away from God. Then, I was re-arrested in a most dramatic way.

I had dressed well and toned my face and curled my hair one evening and walked to my elder sister’s house, because I was living alone. I went there to get some food back into my house. I was in the kitchen preparing some food and there was a flash fire accident. The frying pan caught fire and it blew in my face and burnt my hand and splashed on my chest. I landed in a hospital some minutes later.

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For about two months, I was indoor. My face was burnt off. All the toning had turned to black. My facial skin was peeled off. My hands and chest were scarred. I was ashamed to come out in the open. All my stylish fashion had disappeared.

So, I had time again to seek the Lord’s face and came back to Him in repentance of heart. In those days, as I stayed alone in the room, I cried unto him to bring me back with His power and might. I had the accident in November 1977, and on January 1st 1978, the following cross over, I carried my burnt face to the Lord’s presence to rededicate my life to Him and His service. I was restored.

This morning, the Lord is calling all those who have backslid in the open and in the secret to come back to Him. He is pleading with them to willingly release and surrender themselves to His tender mercy and love. He wouldn’t want to handle them as He did Jonah.

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Many have backslide in their heart, though they still worship in the church and sing in the choir. Many have gone far from God, only their body is present in the church. Prayer life is gone. Word studying is gone. All former visions are gone. The heart has been polluted and the spirit is sunk deep in Sins.

If I had not returned to the Lord then, how could God have used me as He is doing now?
If you are feeling tired of going the Way of the Lord, it is the beginning of backsliding.
When Righteous Ways and Life begin to be boring to you and you now like the company of unrighteous friends and their ways of life, you have began to walk away from God.

If your job has taken the love of God from your heart and has placed you in a terrible proximity with sins, you are on your walking away from God. Listen, at backslidden state, God can not use you to fulfill his purpose.

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So, if you are not here by accident, and you are here on purpose, you have to stay close to God and not walk away from Him.

I saw how God could turn beauty to ashes in a minute. I saw how my toned face was burnt in a minute and I had to carry the burnt face back to His presence to rededicate my life to Him and His service.

Must you be arrested forcefully and messed up like Jonah before you return back to God to do His will?

He is still calling all backsliders at heart.