Fear was Replaced by Faith // A Declare Glory Testimony

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Below is a testimony that we received from a faithful member of our online community. Her life, boldness, and consistent support has become such a blessing to us. We pray you enjoy her story and that God’s glory abounds because of it.

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If I was to describe myself and my take on life right now, it would be this - I am happy, content, at peace and above all, a child of the God almighty.

But this was always not the case.

Things started taking a turn in my life when I first moved to Australia from Sri Lanka in 2015. I left my family, friends and everything I had ever known and grew up with for 21 years of my life, to live in a country that was a stranger to me. Since the moment I stepped into this country for the very first time, I had a strange feeling come over me - and up to this date I cannot explain the emptiness I felt. I was a complete zombie during my first five to six months in Australia. I was dead inside, laughter and happiness barely came to me naturally and I was consumed by homesickness.

Many times, I considered going back to Sri Lanka; to the life I always knew and to my comfort zone, but something out there (which I now call God) made me stay back. With time, being busy with university work and a part time job on the side got me accustomed to life in Australia and helped me get over my homesickness. Howeve,r the feeling of loneliness and emptiness didn’t seem to be leaving me.

I had friends, I was in a relationship with a good man for a long time (which I still am in, happily), I had my life going on like a normal 21-year-old’s life would be, but I was never happy from the inside.

I always looked for happiness as something that came from those around me, I could never be alone and therefore, I was never at peace. I cannot mention what exactly these thoughts or problems were related to but this created lots of problems in my relationship with my boyfriend as he was the only person who was always around me. And with or without my knowledge, I was pressurizing him in many ways.

I was in a place in my life where nothing kept me happy; where I didn’t know what my very own feelings were. I didn’t know from where I should begin to untangle my crazy messy thoughts because there were just that many. I tried expressing my feelings to my friends but I could never do justice to that as I never completely knew what I was feeling. I only knew they were messing with my head and I had zero control over them because I was not strong enough to do so.

The only person I could open up about all the ugliness and emptiness was my childhood friend Nilma. We knew each other for 20 years, we were friends since kindergarten. She started a new life in Christ when we were in the 9th grade and has always encouraged me to follow that path. But I guess we all have our time to get there. Whenever I spoke to her about my problems, she always understood me and would always advise me on how to react to them through God. She always pushed me to look for God through everything and be prayerful - and guess what? I finally did end up there.

Around this same time, God made my path cross with this amazing community in Christ called “Declare Glory.” I remember seeing a post of theirs on my Instagram suggestion page that caught my eyes because of the bible verse it had on a nice background.

I followed them thinking they were one of the Instagram pages that just post Bible verses. Little did I know, they do a huge service to God and have become a prominent part of my journey in Him. Every Bible verse they post is followed by a description explaining and showing how up-to-date and relatable the Bible is to our lives. I didn’t have a proper idea about what exactly the Bible books say until I came across them.

It was through their daily posts that I realized how wrongly we might understand God’s Word and God Himself if the Bible is read half-heartedly.

I recently purchased a devotional book of theirs on the book of Romans, and it blows my mind every time I read it. It perfectly describes God’s Word and how relatable it can be to our everyday life. Most importantly, it has helped me rely and submit myself - and my circumstances - entirely to God and believe in Him.

Somewhere in the middle of all this was when my life took a 360 degree turn. It happened at the beginning of this year (2018) and I’ve never looked back ever since.

Yes, I lived a life far from peace and was overwhelmed by emptiness for three long years, but all those broken roads led me to God and it’s nothing compared to this new life I’m living with Christ. I think I called myself a Christian for as long as I remember, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t lived a life in Christ for as long.

I still don’t know and neither can I point out a specific date as to when exactly this transition happened. But one day, it was all gone. All that emptiness, negativity, unhappiness, worries, doubts, anger, fear it was all replaced by faith. It took a lot of praying, patience, problems, and waiting - but deep inside, I always knew God heard me. I always knew He was going to take me out of this. And one day He did !!!

I still have problems and I still live a normal life, but now I have God! And that makes all the difference. I now know that no matter what happens, I always will have Him. I have a different take on life now. I am happy and at peace and it is all because my priorities have shifted.

Since the day I prioritized God over everyone and everything, I’ve always been perpetually happy. Because He is all I want and He never fails at it. Sure I get disappointed when things don’t go the way I expect, I am only human, but it doesn’t affect my happiness or peace. Now my joy and peace comes from God and from my inner-self.

I still have my moments and certain things still get to and make me worry. But whenever that happens, I remember who I belong to.

The One who created the universe, the One who breathed life into everyone and everything, the One who creates and destroys every situation, the only One who can do something about the situations I face is on my side. He chose me and He forgave me. He made His righteous Son pay for my sins and that’s the biggest gesture anybody could ever do for me.

If He did that much for me what wouldn’t He do for you? Just remember “All things work together for the good of those who love God, those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Worry doesn’t take us anywhere - neither does it change anything - so sit back and trust God. Love Him with all your heart and soul, let your soul thirst for Him and search for Him before it searches for anyone or anything else.

Do your part and see how your life changes, because God never fails to do His part.

-Ash Ranwalage