AMAZING STORY
Letting God be the Only God of Your Life
By Annika Young
The 700 Club
CBN.com -John Turk had what it took to be a successful body builder and model, the drive, the build and the look. There was only one thing missing.
“I didn't really believe in God, per se. I thought I was my own God.”
John was raised by a Muslim father and Christian mother, but had no interest in either religion.
“I wanted to play sports. I wanted to do this or that. I just kinda, anything that got in the way of that, I threw it aside.”
John was always driven to be the best, and preferred to compete on his own terms. “I'm very, very Type A personality. I like to be in control of things. But if it’s a team sport, I feel like the power was taken away from me because I can't control what someone else does.”
Later in his 20’s he became a successful bodybuilder. That and his looks brought a lot of attention. Now he was more concerned about his image, even when he was working as a Chicago police officer.
“I would get a comment like, ‘Ah, you're not a cop. You look like you should be on a soap opera.’ or ‘You’re not a cop. You look like Superman.’”
John started pursuing acting and modeling and eventually left the police force. He landed small roles in film and television, and appeared in fitness magazines. He also became the face of Sub Zero from the video game, Mortal Combat. He had many admirers, especially women.
“It was. ‘How many can I put on my belt. How many notches can I get?’” But that, he says started getting old. “It’s just like after a while sex became more of like, a conquest, an outlet and it felt to me, dirty. I got tired of playing the game. And I just got on my knees and I looked up and I said, ‘God, I don’t want to do this anymore but I’m asking You to please help me find the person I'm going to marry.’"
Two weeks later he met Julia. “And I knew right from the minute I met her, she was the one. And I felt like not only did I have a girlfriend, but I felt like I had a best friend which I didn’t feel I had in the other relationships.”
The couple married two years later. And even though he believed God had answered his prayers, he had no interest in a relationship with Him.
“I treated Him like a cosmic genie. I rubbed the lamp when I wanted something and He made it appear and then, ‘Hey, see you later" and I forgot about Him.’”
That was about to change. Julia began experiencing what his mother-in-law insisted were demonic attacks. “We'd be sleeping and I would turn over and literally in the middle of the night she would be staring at me and when I would look at her she would growl, and she'd just – anger and hate in her eyes like I've never seen before.”
“We never listened to Christian music, but she constantly kept playing this Christian music and when we got in the car she'd play it. And then all of a sudden she's say, ‘Turn it off! Turn it off!’ And she'd get really violent and it would upset her extremely, especially when Jesus was mentioned or anything like that.”
One night Julia jumped from the car while John was driving. He committed her to a psychiatric hospital. “I couldn’t take it anymore and I looked up and I said to God, ‘If You’re real, I need help. I can't do this. I can't fix this.’”
The episode passed and Julia came home. “She would really engross herself in the Word and would constantly pray and constantly pray.”
Julia told John they needed to give their lives to Christ. “We sat down on the couch one day and she says, ‘Hon, you know, you need to give your life to the Lord.’ I asked Jesus to come into my life and I repented for my sins.” They found a church and began the process of allowing God into their lives.
“I don’t think you can really put into words the love of the Lord because it’s so deep. And I think about all the things that I’ve done in my life but He was still there.”
Meanwhile, the attacks on Julia stopped. “He helped my wife with her situation and created that miracle. And I started to create a journal and as things would happen, I was like, ‘That’s a miracle from God, I know it is.’”
He’s also learned to put God first.
“That aspect of, ‘It's-all-about-me,’ was gone. And I just let God lead my life. I let Him direct it.”
And he became comfortable with God’s love.
“He wants that relationship with you. He wants you to rely on Him. He wants you to give it up to Him so you can have that peace.”
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
