My Life a Living Testimony

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 The other night I was talking to Lacey (a friend from my previous trip to Africa) and we came upon the subject of Testimonies. And it really got those wheels turning in my head...
  I recall having to share my testimony quite a few times (for the first time) while I was on my mission trip in South Africa. I had no understanding of what a testimony was supposed to consist of and so I pretty much told my life story just about every time.

But lately, I have been thinking about what giving your testimony really means, what it really is. Thursday night, I figured that out.

 I was at an Eddie James revival service at my church and honestly, it was amazing! The worship was powerful, Eddie's sermon was amazing, and his students were completely on fire! There was just this amazing atmosphere of worship and the Holy Spirit was so present... Everything you would expect from a revival service right? Well, it was so much more than just another revival service. That spirit and atmosphere stuck with me for more than a day this time and I'm loving every second of it! Revival isn't meant for a night, it is meant to last and stirr in your soul. Your supposed to keep that fire burning! And that's what I got!

 I know, I got off topic, but I just had to let you know the increadible encounter I had! So anyway, Eddie James brought his students with him to the service. These kids were all around 18 and up and each of them had a different story to tell. Many of them once lived on the streets, had a drug and alcohol addiction, were sexually abused, had at one point been homosexual, or had a issue with cutting and suicide. When I heard their testimonies God really sparked up something powerful in me... Here's why:

 Recently, God has just broken bondage and chains that have been over my life for such a long time. I had been living in shame, guilt and fear and it was just eating away at me. But when I finally admitted my pain and my struggles to a close and trusted friend of mine... I just felt the most amazing release. I felt the joy of the Lord over my life! All of these things that have been broken and shattered the Lord has just restored to me! I no longer feel like I'm hiding myself worrying about what others will think but I KNOW that I am set free!

 So as they were speaking about these struggles they had, things so many would be afraid to open up about, I was in awe that they could stand up there with NO SHAME! They were completely new and whole people and Christ had set them free.
 Then I began to realize... So am I! I just gained so much confidence about opening up about things I had dealt with because seeing the impact their testimonies had made me understand something... These hidden struggles and pains I experienced- those things that caused so much pain and destruction in my life... God is going to use that to restore other people who have gone through the same things!

 Now, I understand what a testimony is.
Your testimony is not your life story, but the struggles you have faced and how you were delivered of those things through Christ! Your past, your mistakes... they don't define you! What defines you is how you were delivered! How you are new and set free! Your testimony is a personal representation of the deliverance Christ bought for us on the cross 2,000 years ago! It makes the Gospel personal!
 It makes the love of Christ so personal! No one can ever take away the power of your testimony!

So I am new! I am not AT ALL the person I was even just a month ago! I feel so free and I know I am delivered. I have NO SHAME about my past because that is not who I am anymore! I don't reconize that person because she is long gone. Now all I see is the call God has on my life and how He will use me to reach so many people who are living with those things that I have been freed of... He brings restoration!

Living in His restoration,
Olivia (Thabisa) Cartwright








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