Meet Beth Benjamin
Meet Beth Benjamin
Love is a person. I have been a believer in Jesus for almost 39 years. Growing up in a Reformed Jewish household, I didn’t know how to be a Christian so I was a blank slate. As a new believer, I remember crying through my first Christmas Eve candlelight service, seeing and hearing about this amazing love God had for me. It was overwhelming and yet I felt as safe as a child being held close by a daddy; happy, grateful, joyous, secure.
However, that soon changed. Shortly after accepting Christ as my Messiah, I was fed some very harmful theology. Coming from a life with few boundaries, this teaching with its many rules seemed right. I thought following these rules would please God and I wanted to please Him. After all, I owed Him everything. I even married a man who was strong in these beliefs. The oppressive dynamic of our marriage only exacerbated this “understanding” of how to live the Christian life.
About six years ago, he decided to leave us. We had been at Faith Bible for just 6 weeks. Our lives were in such turmoil that I sought out counsel and met Gavin and Andrea Carrier. The morning of the day my then husband left us, Gavin was available to speak with me on the phone. I will never forget the words of grace he spoke to me. I literally felt a huge weight was lifted off of me. I wasn’t used to the Grace of God.
Gavin connected me with others that became the face of God to me and my kids. Like a mother hen, they covered us with their wings of mercy and love, attending to our very real needs and bringing the love that we so desperately needed. Being in community with other believers that walk imperfectly in Grace has been key in changing my relationship with the Lord and bringing me closer to Him. I am “learning the unforced rhythms of Grace" and being “completely at home” with Him who I love.
These last six years have been a rediscovery of my Dad, my Messiah, my Friend. I am so grateful to many here at Faith for living out what it means to extend grace. I am beginning to understand the depth of love our God has for us, the kindness and gentleness of His ways towards us. He really does mean to bring good and not evil because He is Goodness itself (Exodus 33:19).
However, that soon changed. Shortly after accepting Christ as my Messiah, I was fed some very harmful theology. Coming from a life with few boundaries, this teaching with its many rules seemed right. I thought following these rules would please God and I wanted to please Him. After all, I owed Him everything. I even married a man who was strong in these beliefs. The oppressive dynamic of our marriage only exacerbated this “understanding” of how to live the Christian life.
About six years ago, he decided to leave us. We had been at Faith Bible for just 6 weeks. Our lives were in such turmoil that I sought out counsel and met Gavin and Andrea Carrier. The morning of the day my then husband left us, Gavin was available to speak with me on the phone. I will never forget the words of grace he spoke to me. I literally felt a huge weight was lifted off of me. I wasn’t used to the Grace of God.
Gavin connected me with others that became the face of God to me and my kids. Like a mother hen, they covered us with their wings of mercy and love, attending to our very real needs and bringing the love that we so desperately needed. Being in community with other believers that walk imperfectly in Grace has been key in changing my relationship with the Lord and bringing me closer to Him. I am “learning the unforced rhythms of Grace" and being “completely at home” with Him who I love.
These last six years have been a rediscovery of my Dad, my Messiah, my Friend. I am so grateful to many here at Faith for living out what it means to extend grace. I am beginning to understand the depth of love our God has for us, the kindness and gentleness of His ways towards us. He really does mean to bring good and not evil because He is Goodness itself (Exodus 33:19).
Posted in Faces of Faith