Choose Life – Gian’s Story
By: Tim Doecke
Creative. Filmmaker. Surfer. Musician. Storyteller. That’s how we’d describe Gian. How he would describe himself though, that required a good 20 seconds of thought before responding:
“I might not have everything together, but I’ve got a good heart. I might go about things the wrong way, but it’s all about love.” — Gian
Gian grew up the son of travelling evangelists but in his late teens, became cynical towards the faith of his childhood. After journeying a dark path through addiction and wrestling with the near deaths of his brothers, Gian found his way back into a relationship with Jesus. However, he still questioned his purpose and identity in life; he felt that there was something wrong with him that he needed to fix.
“I always thought I had a lot of potential to do great things. And I wasn’t doing those things. And as much as I believed in God, at the end of the day, I wasn’t doing anything with what He’d given me.” — Gian
He shares about the moment his thinking changed.
“I was in the surf and it was beautiful, but I felt like I was drowning in my thoughts. ‘There’s something wrong with me and I need to fix it.’ I just got to this point of thinking, ‘Maybe…maybe there’s nothing wrong. What if this is just all a lie?’” — Gian
Gian realised that even though his thoughts were overwhelming, it was theoretically an easy choice to replace lies with truth.
“You don’t have to overcomplicate it, you just have to choose - what’s a life-giving thought? It was like opening up my dark heart and letting a little light in.” — Gian
With this new-found freedom in his thinking, Gian now finds himself inviting God to work in all areas of his life — like his gigs.
“God has intention in everything. Like at my gigs I’ll say, ‘Alright God, this is Your gig. You want me to bless these people, You’ve given me this gift, I just trust You’re going to use it however.’” — Gian
Here’s what happened to him at a gig recently…
“Three guys rock up and they all had tattoos and looked like they were ready to cause trouble - and I was like ‘Great! God help me.’ Slowly I watched these men who were all brash and arrogant begin to listen and engage. At the end they came up to me and ended up telling me their life stories without me asking. Suddenly I realised, ‘Wait! I’m here for these guys. This is what this is about.’” — Gian
One of them shared with Gian how unhappy he was and Gian had the chance to share about Jesus and pray with him.
“He messaged me the next day: ‘G’day mate. I thought I’d let you know that last night was not a blur and I took in everything you said. I was in a pretty dark place and now I feel like there is purpose and life again.’” — Gian
God wants to use us all right where we are. He’ll use us as much as we’re willing to let Him. Gian sums it up brilliantly:
“I’m constantly looking for ways to tell the truth to people, in a way that they understand. In music, in film… I want to make stuff that makes people feel love. It’s all I wanna do.” — Gian
Article supplied with thanks to The Journey by yesHEis.
About the Author: yesHEis provides various resources to help share your faith in relatable ways.
Feature image: Contributed
