“It Hit Me. I Needed People.”

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? -Psalm 13:1 (NIV)

If you’re asking questions like these, or you’ve asked them in the past, you’re not alone. Thoughts like these enter our minds, but the truth is, God sees all that we are going through. He cares about our pains and listens to our questions. He is always present and is always at work in our lives, whether we see it or not. 

Katie Baxley asked these questions, and she got answers that changed her life. Take a look and see how God intervened in her life when everything seemed to have fallen apart.

“It’s been a hard road.

My teenage years were really challenging. I accepted Jesus into my heart at an Elevate retreat in 2008, but fell into the wrong crowd and soon began to walk away from my faith. After getting into some trouble, I had no other choice than to go to Military School, and after graduating, I was involved in an incident where I got pregnant at 17 with my daughter. 

Everything seemed to be falling apart, and I thought God just really must be testing me, but I didn’t understand why. 

At 19, I got married to my first husband. We struggled a lot in our marriage, and things just didn’t seem to get better, especially after I gave birth to my first son at 21. He passed away on the day he was born. And, not long afterward, my then-husband and I got a divorce. 

This was the first time, despite everything that happened in my teen years, that I got really angry with God. I just felt like I was being punished for doing something wrong. 

Two years later, in 2014, I met my current husband and in 2017, had my second son. Last year we found out that he has autism. I felt like I just couldn’t catch a break. 

And it hit me. I needed people; I needed a church family. 

So, I started going to Milestone in March of this year. After a few weeks, I started attending a small group, and my faith began to grow again. I just felt such a strong connection with my new spiritual family. 

I saw something that I hadn’t seen in a very long time–people caring for one another. I regained my faith in humanity, and even more, I regained my faith in God. 

I saw that you can give up on God, but He’s not going to give up on you. 

I used to wonder where God was and why He wasn’t there for me, and if He even cared…but now I can see so clearly that He was there. He was listening, even when I thought He wasn’t. He is present and active, always.” 

-Katie

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise for He has been good to me. -Psalm 13:5-6 (NIV)