Testimonies
Testimonies are had when we are tested and we overcome. These might range from minor incidences to major occurrences. Revelation 12:11 states, “and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony; and they love not their lives unto death” and actually speaks to the saint of God overcoming the Devil.
Do you have something you would like to share? Make a post sharing your experience.
God has been patient and good to me over the years. As a child growing up I knew and accepted the existence of God but I never really knew Him. I read about Him and the stories of Jesus in story books. My grandmother would take me to church and insist I go to Sunday school and read bible scriptures. At the time I was part of the Anglican denomination that as a babe you would be christened and later on you would have the choice of confirmation and as such become partaker of communion. I got confirmed at age 12 and had taken on a supposed Christian life style, though I never truly understood what this entailed and my heart wasn’t truly in it. I just knew that it was what was expected of me now and I was now able to take communion. Anyway over the years I drifted, but the one thing I always did was pray, because even though my parents at the time weren’t Christians, my father always ensured I knew the Lord’s prayer and to say it every night before bed.
So all this that I did was basically a routine. In the mid to latter part of my teen years I started to experience life for what it truly is and how cruel it can be. In turning 18 I was having relationship issues (which lead to a break up) and was depressed and was also in the process of moving on to University, which meant moving away from family to be on my own. I am one of the reserved types and would keep my problems to myself unless there was someone I trusted and could talk to and not be judged. During this rough period of my life I did not believe I had such a person to talk to so of course I decided to try God. It is sad that that is how he got my attention but better that than none at all I suppose.
Anyhow by this time my mother had become a Christian and was going to church and with the hopes of having her husband, me and my siblings to follow suit. So while recovering from a broken heart and trying to settle into university life, I decided to search spiritually and to get to know God while seeking his comfort and guidance in my time of despair. A friend of mine had given me a bible that had daily devotionals so I started reading. A lot of the things I was reading in the bible I never really understood but the devotional did help to explain some what.
After sometime struggling with what I was accustomed to as a “worldlian” and what I was coming to understand God wanted of me. There were some things I wasn’t willing to accept and habits I wasn’t willing to let go. I started going back to church (was now attending a non-denominational church) and that too helped to provide a baseline from which I could work from. Church wasn’t helping before but it was helping now, because now I had an interest to know God and to live a life pleasing to Him.
I managed to change certain aspects of my lifestyle but there were still aspects I wanted to keep and was looking for excuses or ways I suppose to make it ok to continue doing them. But deep down something was nagging to do something about it. Tried blocking it out but it would keep popping up. I was in limbo.
One day I went to church and the pastor made an alter call for all who wanted to commit their lives to God, to leave their baggages and burdens at the cross of Jesus Christ for that was why He died for us. It appealed to me but I was hesitant to step out and the pastor encouraged persons to make the step of faith…it was as if he was talking to me…eventually I found it in me to move and I went up to the front and prayed the prayer of commitment the pastor told us to pray.
I am one to take commitments seriously so from that day on I endeavoured even more to seek after God. I was able to let go more and more of the bad habits and things I didn’t want to let go of in my life or at least thought I couldn’t let go of. I decided to get baptised to make it official. I started going to bible studies as well and was starting to understand the bible more and started learning on my own. It was as if God was opening my eyes and I was getting revelations from verses I read so many times and didn’t see before and I found it exciting.
But of course being a Christian has not been a bed of roses either but with me accepting Jesus in my life, He has provided me the strength to persevere. When I am facing hard times and wanting to give up, he steps in just in time. I continue to struggle in letting things go and to having faith and reliance on Him but as time passes I get better, my load gets lighter and my faith increases. I will continue to serve him and love him despite the struggles, criticisms and mockings, because when no one else understands He does, when no one else is there, He is.