My Testimony: From Darkness to Light and Life With Jesus​

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“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” 

Revelation 12:11

So what is a testimony?

It’s your story—an experience you lived through, something you witnessed, something that could have taken you out but didn’t. The power lies in the fact that you’re still standing. Yes, you walked through the fire, but it did not consume you. You overcame, not by your own strength, but with the help and covering of Jesus.

My testimony started long before I ever realized God was writing it. My life, like many of ours, has been full of trials and tribulations. But I didn’t recognize the power, strength, wisdom, and endurance that came out of those experiences until I finally started walking with Jesus.

 

 

Life Before Jesus

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Before Jesus, I was lost.
People would say I “lived my life,” but the life I was living was killing me. It was killing my joyful, silly personality… killing my relationships with my family… killing my mental and physical health… killing my dreams, my morals, my sense of identity. I didn’t even realize how far I had drifted—or how empty I had become.

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When Jesus found me, I was in a dark place.
Three years earlier, my stepdad—my little sister’s father—had been murdered.
Two years earlier, I tore my ACL and my mom had been hospitalized.
One year earlier, I had fallen into addiction and lust.
And all the while, I was searching desperately for meaning and hope in all the wrong places: drugs, sex, relationships, crystals, and other forms of witchcraft.

I was expelled from school.
I got kicked out of my dad’s house.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that what I was doing wasn’t working. It wasn’t bringing peace; it was creating more chaos in my life and in the lives of the people connected to me.

I was tired.
Tired of losing myself.
Tired of being rebellious.
Tired of drifting from my family.
Tired of feeling empty.

 

 

When Jesus Found Me

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In June of 2023, I got my first Bible.
In a way, I returned to what I knew—I grew up going to church with my dad and grandma. I danced, sang, served… but somewhere along the way, I drifted.

Soon after getting that Bible the number 12 dropped in my spirit. I don’t know why, but I turned randomly to the book of Jeremiah. After reading Jeremiah 11:12, something in me shifted. It was like the warning sirens I had been drowning out suddenly became clear again. I knew things had to change, I knew I wanted to get right with God. I wanted out of the chaos and emptiness.

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So from that day forward, I committed to reading a chapter a day.
Before leaving the house, before rolling a blunt, before calling a boy—I opened my Bible. I spent time with God. And slowly, I started reading my way from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

That August, around my birthday, my aunt invited my cousins and me to church. She was being ordained and preaching for the first time. I hadn’t been to church in years, so I was excited. I listened closely as she preached. Toward the end of service, they opened the altar for prayer. I hadn’t planned on going, but my body got up before my mind could stop it.

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I ended up being prayed for by a woman I didn’t know. She spoke directly into pains I had told no one about. Tears poured down my face. She asked if I wanted to give my life to Christ, and in that moment—standing at the altar, boo-hooing, I said yes.
Yes to Jesus.
Yes to life.

 

 

The Beginning of Change

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Change didn’t happen overnight, but it came.
I stopped smoking and vaping later that September. I decided to stay on the train of celibacy. I started purifying my speech and stopped cussing. Threw away all my crystals, notebooks and other paraphernalia. Life slowly started to shift. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a better version of myself. I felt hope—hope for something better

 

Life With Christ

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Later that September The Lord led me to what I would later call my home church. On February 11th, 2024, I was baptized at my church, Citygate. Not long after, I attended a youth night (YTH) and met leaders and teens who quickly became some of my closest friends. I began to develop a heart for servanthood. I wanted to help create the same environment for other youth that had helped transform me.

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My friends and I would come to church on our days off, ready to serve in any way—cutting invite cards, sorting chair bands, setting up, cleaning up. We were just grateful to be there. I eventually joined the worship team, helped plan YTH nights, and led small groups. I joined the dance ministry and got to be part of many “firsts” in my church’s history. My relationship with my family strengthened greatly. God even used me to shine His light into their lives and draw some of them to Him.

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My friends and I started a group called Bible Buddies and took it to our high schools. Even now, as a freshman in college, those groups still stand. My life now can’t even be compared to what it used to be. I cherish the joys, the memories, the lessons—everything God has brought me through in the in-between.

 

 

The Real Truth: Walking With Jesus Has Storms Too

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Life with Jesus is beautiful—but it isn’t only rainbows.
Walking with Him brought blessings, but it also required pruning. There were friendships and relationships I had to release. There were character traits I had to grow out of—habits that hurt the people I was trying to love and serve.

Sometimes saying “yes” to Jesus meant stepping out of my comfort zone.
Sometimes it meant quitting a job.
Sometimes it meant ending a romantic relationship.
Sometimes it meant letting God lead me into things that were uncomfortable but necessary.

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Trials don’t disappear after salvation. The past isn’t the only place they exist. You walk through valleys—even the valley of the shadow of death. But the difference is that now, you don’t walk alone. His grace covers you. His presence comforts you. His hand guides you. 

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My life today is far from perfect. I still face challenges, doubts, and difficult seasons. But the difference now is that I know who walks with me through them. Jesus didn’t just save me from my past—He gave me a future, a purpose, and a peace I never could imagine or thought I could have. If you’re in a dark place like I once was, searching for meaning in things that only leave you emptier, I want you to know there is hope. Jesus still saves. He still restores. And He still meets people right where they are—just like He met me.

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