Longing for Reality, Peggy Hill

From a small child there was a seeking in me for the knowledge of God. I regularly attended a denomination, but it seemed to be mostly empty rituals and formalities. Not much changed until at the age of eighteen a new student in high school convinced me that I needed to be saved. This was an expression I had never heard before and I began to question what I had known and seen from childhood. From hearing the experiences of others, I was led to open myself in prayer to the Lord. I received the Lord and was saved and baptized. I met Jesus Christ, a living Person. I began to enjoy not religious ritual or formality, but a new life in Christ.

A year after high school graduation I enrolled in Bible College 700 miles away from home. While in college I met and married my husband, together we sought the Lord with great hunger. We both graduated and worked at the college for a total of ten years. We studied the Bible and took advantage of opportunities to serve in all areas of Christian work, sharing the gospel in jails, snuff and tobacco factories, on the post-office steps on Saturday nights, in neighborhoods, in children's groups, and by preaching and teaching in Christian groups. We never missed a missionary conference or a revival series; but in the midst of all the activities we realized that we were not satisfied and that there was still a hunger for something more. I accepted that feeling as a Christian's plight on earth to wait for something, someday, somewhere in the sky. This sense of lack caused me to repent to the Lord for ten years at every “communion service” before I partook of the elements. I repented for losing the joy of my salvation and I prayed that the Lord would restore it unto me. I condemned myself badly and thought many times that somehow maybe I really wasn't saved.

One summer two student-couples at the school, who were friends our age, came back to their apartment to pack up a truck and move to Atlanta. They were exuberant with joy. We knew that they had found something tremendous but all they would tell us was to “come and see”. While they had been in Los Angeles that summer the Lord had impressed their hearts and showed them His heart's desire, His eternal purpose and His plan. They responded by giving their all to follow the Lord. This absolute surrender to God and His purpose was what we wanted, so we decided to take their word to “go and see”. We headed to Atlanta to see the local church.

The Lord was merciful and gracious to us and granted us fresh inspiration and revelation from His Word. We saw Christian brothers and sisters enjoying mutual fellowship from morning to evening. There was early morning prayer in and with the Word and throughout the day we were singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. There was intensive fellowship in the Word around every meal and there were glorious meetings every night. We were so impressed by their love for the Lord and their enjoyment of Him. We tasted as it were the living waters from the flowing river of life (John 4:14). This living water refreshed us and satisfied our thirst. We felt we had found a family, a home, and God's dwelling place. As the words of a hymn confirm, “He brought us into His banqueting house and His banner over us was love” (Hymns, #1157).

Back then, nearly thirty years ago, we followed the Lord to Atlanta and began to meet with the local church. Now we enjoy the wonderful local church, daily experiencing God's life as we are being transformed into the same image of the Lord with all the believers to be a part of His Body, the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).