Storylines- Laura Hastie

We want to keep on telling the story of all that God is doing in people’s lives who are part of our church family. He has given us all so much to be thankful for and we want to describe something of how He is transforming our lives. To get the full idea behind the Storylines series you can click here. In the meantime here is Laura Hastie’s Storyline:

I was probably best described as a dabbler. The more romantic of you might say whimsical while the realists would call me shallow! Either way, there wasn’t much that could keep my undivided attention for long. Even my love of all things horsey wasn’t enough on its own for me to be content. I had quite a few hobbies as a young girl, dancing (albeit badly), piano, cello, saxophone, covenanters and basketball, all took their places at different times as things I had dabbled in to various degrees and with varying amounts of success.

I also dabbled in Christianity. It was something that I was brought up ‘doing’ but with not much of an understanding about what it actually meant. I would commit myself to being a Christian (most often at a summer Christian camp) then spend the rest of the year living exactly as I had before, and then the next summer do the same! The Christians I saw at church seemed to have their lives all figured out and as I got older this started to make me doubt that I was a Christian at all. I kept going to church into my late teens and while I felt guilty about failing as a Christian, I couldn’t seem to stay good for very long.

My latest craze was going out to party. I was out 3 or 4 nights a week pubbing and clubbing; getting to know the best places to go out in Glasgow and taking great pride in my appearance and ability to get free drinks and dates! Shallow certainly seems more fitting at this point!! Eventually, at around the age of 20, I chose to leave Christianity behind, as something else I had dabbled in, without success, and make my own rules about how to live. A couple of years later, after leaving university early and a short time working in Hampshire, I ended up living back at home and involved in an unhealthy relationship. I had nothing else to be living for, so the relationship completely consumed me.

But God had not forgotten me. God’s faithfulness to me completely took me by surprise. I had no idea that I was even known by God, let alone loved by Him. He broke into my life by causing the relationship I was so devoted to, to end inexplicably. Neither of us wanted it to end, yet – there we were, breaking up. I had no job, university course, boyfriend or horses to distract me. For the first time I felt like I mattered to God and that as my Heavenly Father He had brought me back to what really mattered, to Him.

It didn’t take long for me to realise that I wasn’t sure how to be a Christian and so I went into Glasgow in search of a church. God brought me to Harvest Glasgow, and I was amazed to learn that all this time my understanding of faith was back to front. I could not measure up to God’s standard of Holiness by simply trying to follow His rules and I would never be able to earn my salvation by pleasing Him. Instead I had to trust in Jesus and His work of Salvation on the cross. This was a major breakthrough for me. It took away all the fear and doubt that I wasn’t a part of God’s family. It didn’t depend on me; it was through the finished and perfect work of Christ.

And now my life looks completely different from the way it did a couple of years ago. I no longer find myself looking for the next thing to keep my interest for a while. My anxiety about the future has gone and I now have a real desire to please God – it’s not about keeping rules and feeling like a failure anymore. God has worked a massive change in my heart. Things that were so important to me, things that I found my identity in, have been replaced by Him. Jesus is my Saviour and the more I learn of Him, the more I want to know.

Other Storylines
David Munn
Amanda Parrish
Grace McVicker