Amanda’s Story

Hi, my name is Amanda, I am 35 years old, and this is my testimony. Let me start off by saying that I have always believed in God as far back as I can remember. Even as a kid, I always just knew that he was real, without a shadow of a doubt. But unfortunately for me, I didn’t know the complete truth about him, who he was, or who the Bible described him to be. I didn’t know how to be a servant of God, or how to develop a relationship with him. I always thought believing was enough and praying every now and then was the extent of it. I have always been a risk taker, live on the edge kinda girl, and I never liked to follow the rules. This eventually led to many mistakes and a lot of unnecessary trouble. But when I was 23 years old, I decided to leave my mistakes in the past and join the Marine Corps. While I was on active duty, I wound up with 2 broken feet, 3 bones broken all together. During that time I was prescribed very strong opioid pain medication for an extended period. As you can probably guess it was a recipe for disaster and I got addicted to it. And when I say addicted, I mean that I was both psychologically and physiologically addicted. My mind and body needed this drug to function and although I desperately wanted to quit, I couldn’t. If I went even one day without this little pill, I would be so sick in withdrawal that I couldn’t perform the tasks the Marines has set for me. This addiction followed me throughout the last year of my stint in the Marines and beyond. Soon after, I started dabbling with other substances when I didn’t have pain pills, just to get me through. Eventually, it all led to a full blown heroin addiction. I was now completely and utterly powerless over my life and decisions. A vicious cycle and a rock bottom that I had never seen myself landing in, until I was there. I was in a place that was totally contradictory to the way I was raised. I found myself at the lowest of lows, homeless, no food, no shelter, morals gone out the window, a hopeless dope fiend junkie. One night I remember I just couldn’t take it anymore and I all I really wanted was to just end it all. I was balling my eyes out, contemplating death, and I fell to my knees and started crying out to God. I told him that I just couldn’t live like that anymore and if he had something better for me, a plan or a purpose or something, to please help me. I asked him to get me out of this situation that I had put myself in. Shortly after that night, I ended up in county jail, where I ended up meeting a friend. To make a long story short, she introduced me to a little small town church called Apostolic Bibleway. I knew my life needed to change, that I needed to change, and that God had to be the only answer. I had tried everything on my own, and nothing had worked. I went to my first church service some time in January of 2017. I remember my experience that very first night, and it was the most welcoming feeling I have ever felt in my entire life. There was just so much love in the atmosphere and I knew God was there because I felt his presence in such an intense way. It was an ambiance that I had never felt before that day, and it felt amazing. The first couple months of that year, I was still one foot in the world, one foot in God’s house. But I kept coming to services here and there. But at the end of March, I decided to commit, and get baptized again. I knew it was going to be different than the time before, because this time it would be in Jesus name! When I went down into the water, I felt God remove and erase every sin and every mistake of my past. And when I came back up, I just knew that I was a new creature in Christ, and that the old me was gone for good. From that point on, I started attending every single service, twice a week to be exact, and I just could not get enough of God. He loved me and I loved him, and I wanted to stay connected to him. A couple months went by and during that time, I was learning about who God was, who Jesus was, and who the Holy Spirit was. And I learned that they were 3 manifestations but one God. When I started learning about who Jesus was and about the plan of salvation that he had promised me, I knew that I wanted to be saved! And that as long as I kept coming back to church and reading my Bible, that I would have the opportunity to do so. So I kept coming to church and on June 6th, while in prayer, with the snap of a finger, just like that, God delivered me from my addiction. It took God one second to undo years of addiction. And it was truly the biggest miracle I had ever experienced. And finally, I was free of addiction and the biggest stronghold that the devil had over me and my life. A couple weeks later I was filled with the Holy Ghost and I began to speak in tongues. I remember that night, I went home after service and I went to bed, and I must have woken up 5 times throughout the night and every time I woke up I would speak in tongues just to make sure I still was able to. It was at that point, that God’s power and authority was undeniable for me. That he could draw me in, free me of my sins, deliver me from addiction, fill me with the Holy Ghost, and give me the ability to speak in an unknown language. It blew my mind! Since that time my life has entirely changed. I have entirely changed. I went from being under the rocks of rock bottom, to God completely restoring my identity. He has not only taken away my addiction to drugs, but he has helped me mend my relationship with my family, given me a roof over my head, food to eat, a nice warm bed to sleep in, nice clothes, a job that I enjoy, a bank account, and a decent car to drive. I truly have everything that I could ever need. I have a life again, and life is good. And guess what!?! I’m now a rule follower, and I enjoy doing the right thing and living by the book, and it’s much easier this way. I don’t cuss anymore, I don’t watch certain programs or movies on tv, I only listen to christian music, I only surround myself with positive people, etc. And I didn’t give up those things because I had to, it’s because I wanted to! That is how much God has changed me on the inside! I have joy, love, peace, patience, self-control, goodness, I’m kind, I’m faithful, and I am gentle. God has restored my body, soul, and spirit. I went from being a shell of a person, back to the way God intended me to be. I’m not claiming to be perfect, I’ll never be, only God is perfect in all his ways. But now I live everyday like I have a purpose, because I know that God created me with a purpose. The Word of God has taught me so much already, and although I have a lot to learn, I am blessed with the opportunity and desire to continue to further my walk with God every single day, as he reveals to me his plan for my life. I could go on and on about all the amazing things God has done for me. But I will say that although addiction was one of my biggest struggles, there are also other things God has helped me overcome, but I wanted to outline my transformation through this testimony. God will be working on me and in me until the day I die, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want to encourage you, to find out for yourself who God is and the plan and purpose that he has for your life. We are all his children and he loves each and every one of us equally. Just turn to him, ask him for more, and let him lead the way. And the loving God that he is, he will change your life too. Forever.