// real Stories // Jacob //

Is God’s faithfulness real?

That’s the big question that stuck out in my mind when I first started following Jesus as a teenager, and one I began to question even more since leaving home and coming to university. Whilst Exeter has absolutely been one of the greatest blessings of my life, my first year was always painted with a tinge of sadness. My mental health had taken a turn for the worse, and I’d gone through some rough patches that had taken a toll on my faith in God. I’d started to doubt that He really cared about me or what I was going through, that my problems were just not worth His time. I felt abandoned by a God who was supposed to be my rock.

I prayed that my second year would help me shake off those feelings but, if anything, things just got worse. The worst spells of my depression hit last term and my faith was utterly shaken up. I felt alone and isolated and doubted whether there was any point in following God at all. But even in my darkest times, God’s faithfulness remained. Through the people He’d placed around me, through His word and through the simple reality of Him, I was pulled out darkness and into light. God, for me, is fundamentally real. And above that, He is real in His faithfulness and dedication to His children. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” Jesus tells us in Mark and, for me, this is the greatest reality we could ever have or hope to have.

// Events week - Jan 28 - Feb 1 | 2019 //