Evolution Sparked Part I

For the past few weeks, I’ve wrestled with the idea of sharing this publicly. However, I had to get over my feelings, understanding that God didn’t give me this testimony to keep it to myself. Plus, at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about Him and how He desires to use me as one of His vessels in this earth to serve a purpose greater than myself. Another thing that I’ve come to realize is often times when we experience various life events, especially hardships, they create opportunities for growth, opportunities for us to help and encourage others who have gone through or are going through similar situations, and opportunities for God to be glorified. So as I write this post and share my story, my prayer is that you are encouraged in some way and that your eyes are opened to the ways God is present and actively moving in your life. So let’s get to it 🙂

Back in July, I traveled to Denver, Colorado for the Woman Evolve conference hosted by Sarah Jakes Roberts. It was a 2-day experience filled with sessions covering topics such as faith, fashion, health, finances, relationships, business/entrepreneurship, and so much more!  Every session was amazing, but something special happened during the sessions that focused on evolving us as spiritual beings - I had an encounter with God that sparked an evolution within me. At this conference, life was spoken into me and my purpose. I was awakened to my true identity as a woman of God, and my mind was renewed. Consequently, I began speaking things over myself that I had never spoken before and walking with a new level of confidence, the kind rooted in God.

The first set of emojis shown below in the text image illustrates me the night the conference concluded — which was July 14, 2018.  My spirit was so full, I couldn’t even speak. I needed time to digest all that I had encountered. The next morning, my mom and I spoke briefly about my experience and one thing I remember sharing with her was how excited I was about evolving in various areas of my life, especially my faith, and how I saw God using me in the future. Witnessing the spiritual transformation that began to take place in my life, my mom texted me shortly after we hung up to say, “Stay prayed up because the enemy comes immediately.”

Now, I’d heard pastors talk about spiritual warfare, and I was aware of what Paul wrote about this topic in Ephesians 6:10-16. I’ve even experienced it to some degree in the past, but I had NO idea to what degree or what tactic the enemy was going to use to attack me and my faith. I just knew I needed to be prepared, because there was no way he was going to let me walk away from that conference after all that I experienced without a fight.

Two days later on July 17, 2018, as I was leaving work heading to the gym, my car began making a rattling sound. I immediately turned my radio down to assess what was going on, because I had never heard that sound before. As I continued to drive, the sound faded in and faded out and eventually stopped. So I proceeded to make my way to the gym and merged on the interstate; but I made a mental note to myself to take my car to the dealership before the week was out to have it inspected. Less than a mile after merging onto the interstate, I began to see smoke in my rearview mirror. At first, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from and wondered if it was coming from the tractor trailer behind me. But I began to see more smoke and noticed the tractor trailer slowing down and distancing itself from me. At that point, I knew the smoke was coming from my car.

I immediately thought to myself, “You need to get off at the nearest exit.” But I felt an urge so strong from the Holy Spirit leading me to pull over on the shoulder immediately. I followed this leading, pulled over, and threw my car in park. Right after doing so, I noticed a message on my dash signaling some type of failure. At that point, I grabbed my phone — which I don’t even remember doing — got out of the car as quickly as possible, and walked briskly away from my car. Within seconds of me getting out of the car, it began to go up in flames before my eyes, and I immediately dialed 911.

As I awaited the arrival of the police and fire departments, I stared at my car in disbelief and began to tear up. I then realized what was going on…this was a spiritual attack — the exact one my mom alluded to in her text message. In that moment, I felt the peace and presence of God bring comfort to me, and I knew that He would bring purpose to this situation. He even used a stranger, who pulled over to support me at the scene of the incident, to demonstrate that He was right there with me and would continue to walk with me throughout this trial.

Below are a few pictures from the scene. Check out “Evolution Sparked – Part 2” to learn how I came to know God more personally through all of this and how He traded me beauty for ashes 😉