There is a difference between knowing the language of faith and actually living it. A person can grow up surrounded by religious ideas, familiar scriptures, traditions, and expectations, yet still reach a point where those things no longer feel personal. At some stage, faith begins to ask deeper questions. What does it really mean to know God? What does it look like to follow Yeshua when there is no audience, no expectation to meet, and no familiar formula to follow? For Karen Roth, these questions have become part of a personal journey toward a faith that is not simply inherited, but genuinely lived.
A personal faith often begins with honesty. It requires a person to acknowledge where certainty has become routine and where spiritual practices may have become disconnected from the heart. This kind of honesty can feel uncomfortable because it challenges the safety of what is familiar. Yet it can also become the beginning of something much deeper. When a person stops trying to maintain an appearance and becomes willing to bring genuine questions, doubts, desires, disappointments, and hopes before God, faith can begin to move from something external into something deeply personal.
Karen’s journey with Yeshua reflects this movement beyond the surface. Her experiences have led her to explore what happens when faith becomes a lived relationship rather than simply a collection of beliefs. Following Yeshua does not mean having a perfectly predictable path. It can involve surrender, questioning, waiting, changing perspectives, and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of life that need transformation. The process can be challenging, but it can also bring a sense of freedom that cannot be found through simply trying to meet external expectations.
A personal relationship with God also changes the way a person understands transformation. Transformation is not always dramatic or immediately visible. Often it happens gradually, through ordinary decisions, difficult seasons, moments of surrender, and quiet realizations. The Holy Spirit may work through circumstances that initially seem insignificant, revealing attitudes, fears, patterns, or desires that need to be brought into the light. Over time, these encounters can shape a person from within.
This is one of the themes explored in Karen’s debut book, I Call Him Lord. Through 30 fresh and revelatory encounters with Yeshua, the book offers a vulnerable look at the process of sanctification and the ways in which faith can become increasingly real through lived experience. Rather than presenting a polished or predictable spiritual story, Karen shares experiences that invite readers to consider their own relationship with God and the places where they may be longing for something deeper.
Faith becomes personal when a person is no longer satisfied with simply knowing what others say about God and begins to seek Him personally. It becomes personal when prayer becomes more than words, when surrender becomes more than an idea, and when following Yeshua begins to influence everyday choices, relationships, priorities, and perspectives. For those who sense that there is more to discover, that longing may not be something to suppress. It may be an invitation to go deeper and discover what it means to truly walk with Him.
