My Testimony Series

I finally lifted my head from silently praying to God and I heard my spirit man reply aloud, “Well, Doctor Allen, I do not know what you are going to do, but I am going to believe God.”

That day I made my choice. That day I stood my ground on the word of God. The Scriptures state, “By His stripes, I am healed.” I decided to believe God. The Scriptures also state, “Anything you ask in Jesus’ name, that too the Father will do for you.” I decided to believe God. I have heard it preached as a young boy by my paternal grandfather, Rev. Roosevelt Leon Walker, Sr. I have read it many times as I studied under my late father, Rev. Roosevelt Leon Walker, Jr. I have also preached about faith in God, myself, for over twenty-five years. Therefore, I must choose to believe God.

I have made my choice. I decided not to live my life trying my best not to die. I decided to live my life trying my best to live. I did not decide to trust in the wisdom of man, because man’s knowledge is foolishness unto God. I did not choose the doctor and the pills because like the woman with the issue of blood, my money was completely gone and I did not want to deal with the deadly side effects from the medication. I did not choose God because life had me backed into a corner. I did not choose God because I had become HIV positive. I had made my choice at the age of nine when I ask God to save my soul. It was now time for me to stand up and grow up. HIV forced me to mature from being just a child of God into living my life as a man of God.

On May 29, 2008, it will be twenty-two years since I married Velda. If I could, I would do it all over again. It has been twenty-two long hard years. I still will not take any medication that the doctors want to prescribe to me. I read what the Scriptures had to say and I decided to take God at His word. Yes, I still test as HIV positive and the doctors still ask me the same question. “What are you going to do?” Some have even questioned, “Why are you not doing anything about your disease?”

I just smile and reply; “I have done something about it. I prayed to God and He said, ’By my strips, you are healed.’ And I choose to believe God.” Twenty-two long hard blessed years later, I still choose to believe God. My life is not as easy as some would think; nevertheless, my life is full of difficult choices. Even when the test confirms that I am still HIV positive, I still choose to believe God. Moreover, I thank God that by and only by His grace and mercy, I am still alive.

I have made up my mind, that even if science could somehow prove that God does not exist, I would continue to believe God. If some archeologist could somehow discover the deteriorated remains of the man that we called Jesus, the Christ, I would continue to believe God. My faith is not built upon the things that I see. I do not believe only when things turn out the way that I would want them to be. My faith is built upon the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I choose to believe God.