Yesterday we celebrated our 1 year anniversary for Freedom Life Church. I was asked a few weeks ago by my Pastor if I would give my testimony to the congregation. As reluctant as I was, I agreed. As I was preparing to give my testimony, I was in prayer that I spoke truth and that whatever I write would bring Him Glory.
I was on my way to a mission trip the day before, so on the ride I decided to write about this journey that I have been on with the Lord. As I began to write, God took me back to the very beginning, way before I knew He existed. He took me back to all the turning points in my life that led me to where I am today. I sat back and reflected on everything and I couldn’t help but be in awe of how He has sustained me throughout the years. How He spared my life on multiple occasions and had directed all my steps. Even in my darkest valleys, He gave me the wisdom to recognize how He had never left. My testimony was surprisingly easy to write, but difficult to say out loud. So when Sunday rolled around, I literally counted down the minutes until I would behind the pulpit sharing all that God has done. I literally said to God, that He needed to show me that He was with me. (Even though I knew He was) I was scared to say too much, or not say enough.
As I read the words I wrote, God flashed the moments before my eyes and like a movie playing, I could see the transformation. Those moments where I cried myself to sleep. The prayers that I thought never reached past my bedroom walls, all those days where I prayed for sanity and understanding. He was there, working in me. I wrote those words down, but now I see them. Things I never shared with anyone, were being spoken. And as badly as I wanted to skip over them, the conviction wouldn’t let me. The Holy Spirit ringing in my ear “how will they know, if you don’t tell them.” So I did.
3 years ago, I carried the weight of the world into the church. Had wounds in places that only God could see. I may have been a drug addict then, but the recovery was not from that, but from this life that had brought me to His cross. His healing is unmatched. His transformation is undeserved but crucial to our survival. We all have a path that we walked resulting in a testimony, and as different as they are, they are meant for one thing, to show the world the Glory of God.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalms 34:8
Cynthia M. Benavides 