Reflecting on God’s Revelation in My Life

Today, I am not writing about what God spoke to me through my devotions, but taking a step back to walk through memory lane. I want to remember how God first revealed Himself to me.

It was June 1989. I was thirty years old, married, and the mother of two young daughters—one five years old and the other only five months old. At that time, I was a Buddhist, and my marriage was struggling. It was not what I expected it to be, nor did I know how to handle the challenges properly. Marriage works best when both partners share the same vision and goal, but I often wondered if we truly did.

The tension eventually brought me to a place where I had to make a difficult decision: should I continue in this marriage, or should we separate? 

Many people around me encouraged separation. But deep inside, I struggled with the thought of my children growing up without their father.

During that season, two of my colleagues, who were Christians, began speaking to me about their faith. They said, “If you come to Jesus, He can help you.” At first, I refused to listen. I didn’t hold a good impression of Christians, and I was also proud of my Buddhist identity. Yet, in one of our conversations, my friends said something that planted a seed in my heart: “Our God is a living God, and He can help people.”

One night, while my husband was away and my children were sleeping, I sat in the dark house, overwhelmed and aching inside. In my desperation, I remembered my friends’ words: “Their God is a living God and He can help people.” For the first time, I wondered, “If He is real, and if He helps others, could He help me too?”

That is when something extraordinary happened.

I suddenly saw a bright light. I heard voices, almost as though people were speaking outside my home. Then I noticed a closed door. As I looked at it, I heard a knock and a voice calling my name: “Shriyanthi, open the door.” The door opened, and standing there was someone clothed in a long white robe. I could not see a face—only a ball of radiant light, from which a beam shone directly toward me. The presence was indescribable—like light, like clouds, yet more real than anything I had known.

Then I heard the voice again: “Did you ask for prayers?” Fearfully, I replied, “No.” But the voice answered, “We know you asked for prayers; that’s why we came to pray for you.” Immediately, I heard the most beautiful song, unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was captivated, but soon my baby daughter began to cry. I picked her up from her crib, still trying to process what had just happened. I was wide awake. It was not a dream. Yet I had no words for what I had seen and heard.

The next day, I shared the experience with my two friends at work. They listened carefully and said, “You said you didn’t believe in our God. But the moment you asked Him for help, He came to you. It was God.” Then they opened their Bible to Revelation 3:20, which says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.”

I had never read the Bible before. I did not know its words. Yet the very thing I had seen and heard was written there. That was the moment I knew God was real—and that He had come to me.