MAISIE // GEOGRAPHY, 3rd YEAR

There was never a time in my life when I didn’t know God. My parents are Christians and so I went to church every Sunday, Christian camp every summer, and when I was 7, I decided I wanted to be Jesus’ friend. But as I got older, I placed all my worth in doing well at school and what others thought, but I never felt good enough. The constant need to prove myself left me so anxious and I was so unhappy. Then, during the summer before I came to Bristol, I went to Tanzania for a month. We went to church on Sundays and I was blown away. The people I met there were some of the most joyful people I had ever met, so full of love for God and trusted everything to Him, overflowing in a joy that was unshaken. I had so much, yet I was so unhappy. I was longing for this deep joy that I had witnessed, I had been chasing it for so long but nothing would satisfy. It was then I realised that it was knowing Jesus that would satisfy beyond all else.

In the moment I gave my life to Jesus I felt that joy of knowing that I have been saved and have done ever since. Knowing Jesus has changed everything in my life - Jesus died on a cross to take away my sin and to set me free! Even though I get it wrong so so often, I know that I am forgiven because of God’s amazing Grace and that nothing can separate me from His love. I don’t need people to like me or to get the best grades possible - my hope is in Jesus and he never leaves me needing more. I have found these words in Romans 15:13 to be true, my prayer is that you also know this for yourselves - “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Watch Maisie’s interview in How Can I Have the Good Life When Fighting Global Warming Feels Hopeless?