Robert Guddat

I thank God that I have a part in this wonderful Gospel and I am a part of the family of God. I am so thankful for the wonderful things God has done in my life. I am so thankful I had a good Christian home. I saw the Lord work there many times when I was growing up. My father worked among the seamen. He visited the harbor vessels inviting the seafaring men to church. I saw the joy that the service of the Lord brought into my father’s life. I thought about the friends I was running around with—all they thought about was a good time, new cars, or good clothes. As far as the world was concerned, they had everything to look forward to, but I knew better. I did not have a born-again experience with God, and therefore, I had only heartache and a void in my heart. I had been raised under the sound of the Gospel for years, but God showed me I could never do anything for Him unless I had a born-again experience in my heart.

On July 12, 1939, God wonderfully called me in a special way. It seemed the sermon that day was just for me. The preacher preached about the vessel of clay saying that, if it had just one blemish in it, God would have to grind it to powder and remake it. As I went to the altar, I asked the Lord in a yielding way to grind my heart to powder and remake me. I left the altar without that experience, but I continued to hunger after salvation. I went to my tent on the campground and continued to pray. While standing next to my tent, God gave me a wonderful promise: If a person only has a mustard-seed of faith, that is all that is needed. The love of Jesus just filled my heart until I could not help but believe. Faith took hold and God saved my soul!

About four years after I was saved I went into military service for my country. For the first time in my life I was far away from home without many Christians around, and I was very lonely. When others went on pass into the town, I went out in the big fields in Texas and looked up to God under that beautiful sky where stars shone from horizon to horizon. I thought in my heart how mighty God is! He is omnipotent—His power is unlimited. God wonderfully blessed my soul and gave me peace and happiness. As I went back to the barracks, there were hymns of praise in my heart.

Two years later God permitted me to undergo an affliction. I became seriously ill. I had completed infantry combat training, but there was one small item missing in the record, and I had to undergo basic training again. I wound up in the hospital with pneumonia and wondered why.

Later I received a letter from a Christian friend who had gone overseas. The unit I was to be with was torpedoed in the Battle of the Bulge and one third of the men were casualties. God had spared me from all of those things. I can say it is wonderful to trust in God.