When I walked into the Revival Fellowship hall for the first time, I knew I had found what was missing in my life. I could see that the people had a joy, a true joy that I had never seen before.

I grew up as an only child in a dysfunctional family. I never fit in at school and always felt like something was missing but didn’t know what it was. I remember at a very young age seeing people happy and asking, “why couldn’t I be happy?” However, that all changed when I walked in the door that day in 1999. I felt a joy and excitement that I had never felt or seen before.

I received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues a few weeks before I got baptised and I remember feeling an amazing burning sensation flow through my body from my toes to my head. When I was praying, I could not hear myself speaking in tongues so I doubted the experience. I then prayed to God and asked for confirmation that I had indeed received the Holy Spirit. When traveling home from a youngies night we were singing choruses in the car. We sang one about the holy spirit as a fire burning through you and from that moment, I realised that I had received the Holy Spirit those few weeks before so I decided to get baptised shortly after.

A few years before coming along, I was having difficulties with some really bad people. No matter what I did, in my own strength, they did not stop. This had been going on for a number of years and I had to watch my back constantly but that all stopped the night I got baptised by full immersion. The very next day when going about my daily routine on public transport, those people were not there. God graciously made them stop. What I love most about this part of my testimony is that although I had heard about healings, I didn’t know how God could protect me in this situation – so, it was this miracle that really secured my belief in what I had been told from the bible. This was not simply a story book but a book with power!

Fast forward approximately 20 years, a happy marriage, children, a few ups and downs and so many amazing healings, protections, and provisions.

One thing I have been reflecting on lately, is how God can direct us personally through praying and simply opening the bible to a “random” page. That “random” page can be God led and can teach us amazing things. I recently opened my bible at Habakkuk. I read the whole book. I couldn’t put it down. I read how during a time of turmoil Habakkuk clung to God no matter what, and even when it felt like God was not doing anything. It was not that God wasn’t working but that Habakkuk couldn’t see what God was doing. There have been many times in my walk where I have found it hard to wait for God to act in times of turmoil – but it has taught me patience and to walk by faith and not by sight.

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

Habakkuk 2:4