Jezus came into my life, my testimony

My life as a Christian started when I was baptised. I had a happy and protected youth, believing was following patterns and I confessed my belief in Him as adolescent as was the custom.

At 17 I moved to a dorm in a nautical college to start a career as a Merchant marine officer. For 7 years I lived a Godless life as sailors live a lonely life for months on end and have few limits when going ashore. I started building walls around my heart to protect it from harm.

At 27 I found a life more suitable for my gentle character as an automation engineer. I met my lovely wife in Japan who started removing the walls, and we lived in many countries while raising our 2 children. We encountered many events in our life but were always protected; riots in Jakarta (1998), tsunami’s in Thailand (2004) and in Japan (2011) including the black rain that followed.

I always searched for God but had a distant relation with him as I had when I was young. I read all Bible stories to my children, they were baptised but I couldn’t instil my deep founded trust in God in them. This troubled me a lot.

Then, at 57, I was diagnosed with cancer. It strengthened my anchor in Him as I put my hand in His. He provided me the shelter of hope I needed to weather the storm for years to come. The surgeon he sent on my path was a Christian, and so was the rest of his team. During the complex clean-up operation he kept praying out loud his assistant told me. The meninges was pierced and a brain surgeon was called in to manage the damage. Also he was Christian. God had taken care of everything and I recovered. When all scans were clearing I prayed long to thank Him.

All this time I had never personally met Jezus though, but my brother did, and how! I was amazed with his experience. My sister told me about her experiences with the angels, providing her protection and comfort. I realised something was missing in my life as a Christian. Something more personal.

Then cancer metastasised in my brain water, and I had to undergo radiation and immunotherapy. Fighting the side effects made my heart beat out of rhythm. While holding my wife’s hand, I was waiting every time when the next beat would come. I cried out and said I don’t want to go, I am not ready… We waited patiently until my heartbeat recovered. When I shared this with my siblings, my brother said: Jezus’s spirit was in you, just talk to Him…
And so I did from then on.

Jezus listened and responded by strengthening my spirit and hope, helping my body recover. He helped my wife care for me, visit the hospital so often to get the right medication. He made the doctor always respond promptly and help her mentally to push me forward. Who could wish for a better nursing team!

So I realised Jezus had been with me all those years, always, also at sea during all those terrible storms. Had I only realised this earlier…

I wish to radiate this awareness that Jezus is in all of us. It’s so easy to talk to him and get his help. It makes me so happy. Now I understand the happiness of my brother. I start at home so that my wife and children can hopefully experience the change in me as he guides my path and actions.

I have to start at home, get help in taking on this task and work tirelessly to succeed. Not with the objective to convince or convert, but to share the peace he brought me.


Cor Arie Beetsma, 21 Dec 2021