In His Image Testimony: Naomi

60 days ago, my life, for lack of a better description, lacked life. Today, I can joyously testify to a life that is rich in all God’s goodness, grace and mercy. I can thank the people that wrote Made In His Image, the woman who convinced me to do this course over another one I’d chosen, the mentors that have guided and supported me through this season of growth and change, my friends who have encouraged me through every step and most importantly, I can thank God, who never once gave up on me or stopped believing in me. I love to eat. I’m a pretty picky eater, but I enjoy thoroughly the foods I do eat and when I was younger, my mother used to make double the amount of everything; this was mainly because, with 2 brothers plus my sister, my dad and myself we needed a lot of food. But what this meant was that, at an early age, I was used to eating a lot of food in a sitting and it didn’t seem wrong to me because this was always the way it was done. So when I moved out of home and across the country, my love of eating moved with me. It took almost 2 and a half years for God to get it through to me that eating the amounts of food that I did was unhealthy. It was made clear to me also that my lack of exercise was exacerbating the situation. I was unwell and exhausted all the time and I struggled to even make time for the things I loved to do because they would take energy I didn’t have. Something urgently needed to break and/or change in my life and it was made clear to me that I wouldn’t be able to handle this situation on my own. So when my church announced that they were running the Setting Captives Free course Made In His Image, I was interested enough to sign up to it after being convinced that it was the one that I needed to do. My first few weeks saw me half-hearted and reluctant to commit to setting into place what I was learning, but as the weeks went by and others started to notice the difference in me and then ‘I’ started to notice the difference, I was suddenly intrigued enough to allow God to draw me out of my comfort zone and onto the path He had set me on. The revelations were startling. I started out believing that I had a bit of a problem with eating only to discover that this problem was only a part of what God was wanting to set right in my life. As He dealt with my sinful eating habits, He started shedding light on other sins I had kept bottled up and hidden in my life, particularly in the area of sexual sin; these sins were like a barrel of acid that developed a hairline fracture and started to leak out. At first it was barely noticeable and as a result, had cause a monumental amount of damage before it was noticed. This sin had permeated right to the core of my life and was contaminating everything God had designed for good; physically I was unwell and spiritually I was dying. But God in His infinite love, grace and wisdom started to draw me out on these sins and I am excited by what my future will hold as I set in motion the steps I need to take in order to lance this next wound and deal with this old sin still strangling my life. What the enemy intended to destroy and ruin me, I believe with everything in me God will turn around for the most amazing good. He is by no means done with me yet and as I move forward down the path He has set my feet upon, I can see the sun rising for the first time in a long time and I lift my face up to it’s warmth and I rejoice in my Lord and Saviour who is drawing me closer to Him daily and filling me with a greater hunger anew every time I meet with Him and learn something new about His amazing desire and power to save and set free. 60 days ago I was dead in my sin; today the shackles have fallen and this captive is free to dance in the abounding love and grace of her loving Father. Thank you, Father God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made in Your image. May I daily become more like You as I soak in Your infinite love and grace. Amen