Your Test Becomes Your Testimony

My friend Robia Scott said something that stopped me in my tracks: "I only have an anointing in this area because I was in the trenches, you know. I was in the trenches with the enemy getting hit, getting knocked out, getting annihilated, and then came into the Lord and He brought me through personally. And then that turned into an anointing, a gift, to then bring others through."

This is one of the most profound Kingdom truths I know: your test becomes your testimony. Your greatest ministry often flows from your deepest wounds—when you allow God to heal you.

But here's the key: you can only minister what you've personally walked through.

From the Trenches to Anointing

Robia's journey is a perfect illustration of this principle. She spent years battling eating disorders, chain smoking, tormented by body image issues, looking for love in all the wrong places. She was getting hit, knocked out, annihilated by the enemy in these areas.

Then she came to the Lord. Not just believing in God from a distance, but actually coming into relationship with Him. And He brought her through personally.

That's when everything changed.

The areas where she'd been in bondage became the areas where she received anointing. The battles she'd fought and won by God's grace became the foundation for helping others find freedom. Her test literally became her testimony.

Now she writes books on counterfeit comforts and helps others break free from the very things that once held her captive. She has authority in this area—not because she studied it academically, but because she lived it, fought through it, and came out free on the other side.

That's the journey from the trenches to anointing.

Why Experience Matters More Than Theory

We live in a culture that values education and credentials. Don't get me wrong—those things have their place. But when it comes to spiritual authority and the ability to truly help people find freedom, there's no substitute for having walked the road yourself.

You can read all the books about deliverance. You can attend all the conferences. You can study all the theology. But until you've been in the trenches yourself—until you've faced the enemy, wrestled with bondage, and experienced God's delivering power personally—you won't have the same authority to help others.

This is why the Apostle Paul could say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NKJV).

Notice the sequence: God comforts us in our tribulation so that we can comfort others with the same comfort. Our experience of God's deliverance equips us to help others find deliverance.

We can only give what we've received. We can only lead others where we've been ourselves.

No Dominion Without Deliverance

This brings me to a principle I've been exploring lately: there's no dominion without deliverance.

We talk a lot about taking dominion in God's Kingdom. We want to see breakthrough, transformation, the power of God manifested in our lives and in the world around us.

But we can't exercise dominion in areas where we're still in bondage ourselves.

Think about it: how can you help someone find freedom from food issues if you're still enslaved to dieting and binging? How can you minister healing to the broken-hearted if your own heart is still shattered? How can you speak with authority about God's deliverance if you've never experienced it yourself?

You can't. Not really.

Oh, you can try. You can speak the right words, quote the right scriptures, go through the right motions. But there won't be power behind it. There won't be authority. People might respect your knowledge, but they won't experience breakthrough.

True dominion—the kind that actually sets people free—flows from personal deliverance.

This is why God often allows us to go through intense battles before He releases us into ministry. It's not punishment. It's preparation. He's not being cruel—He's being strategic.

He's taking you through what you'll eventually help others walk through. He's giving you the experiential knowledge and spiritual authority you'll need to truly help people find freedom.

God Doesn't Waste Your Pain

Here's what I want you to understand: God doesn't waste anything. Not your mistakes, not your failures, not your struggles, not your pain.

Every battle you've fought, every wound you've received, every area where the enemy has attacked you—God intends to redeem all of it for Kingdom purpose.

But—and this is crucial—that only happens when you actually let Him bring you through to the other side. If you stay stuck in your pain, if you remain in bondage, if you never experience God's delivering power personally, then your test doesn't become a testimony. It just stays a test.

Robia could have stayed stuck in her eating disorders and addiction to cigarettes. She could have remained tormented by body image issues for the rest of her life. Many people do.

But she didn't. She came to the Lord. She let Him bring her through. She experienced His delivering power personally.

And now that pain has purpose. Those years of struggle weren't wasted—they became the foundation for her ministry. The enemy meant it for evil, but God redeemed it for good.

That's the promise of Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (NKJV).

All things. Even the painful things. Even the things the enemy meant to destroy you with.

God can work it all together for good—if you'll let Him.

The Difference Between Knowledge and Authority

There's a big difference between knowing about something and having authority in it.

I can read books about martial arts, study different fighting techniques, even memorize all the moves. But if I've never actually been in a fight, never trained my body, never experienced what it's like to get hit and keep going—I don't have authority as a fighter. I just have theoretical knowledge.

The same is true spiritually.

You can know all about deliverance without having authority to minister it. You can understand the theology without having the anointing. You can have the right information without having the right power.

Authority comes from experience. Anointing flows from having been in the trenches and coming out victorious by God's grace.

This is why some people can pray for breakthrough and things shift, while others can pray the same words and nothing happens. It's not about the words—it's about the authority behind them.

And that authority is forged in the fire of personal experience.

Your Struggle Is Not Your Disqualification

If you're in the trenches right now—if you're battling addiction, wrestling with mental health issues, struggling with relationship wounds, fighting to be free from patterns that have held you for years—I want you to hear this:

Your struggle is not your disqualification. It's your preparation.

The enemy wants you to believe that your struggles disqualify you from ever being used by God. He wants you to think that because you're broken, wounded, still fighting battles, you'll never have anything to offer anyone else.

That's a lie.

The truth is that God specializes in using broken people. He loves taking those who've been in the trenches and turning them into warriors who can help others find freedom.

But you have to let Him bring you through. You have to actually pursue your own deliverance. You have to be willing to do the hard work of healing, to face your demons with God's help, to press through to freedom.

You can't stay stuck and expect to help others get unstuck. You can't remain in bondage and exercise dominion. You can't skip your own deliverance and jump straight to ministry.

But when you do the work—when you let God bring you through personally—everything changes.

Your test becomes your testimony. Your pain becomes your purpose. Your mess becomes your message.

And you'll have authority to help others find the same freedom you've found.

The Journey Continues

Here's something important to understand: this isn't a one-time thing. God continually brings us through new levels of deliverance so we can help others at different stages of their journey.

You might have breakthrough in one area and start helping others in that area, while still working through issues in another area. That's okay. That's normal. That's the journey.

God doesn't wait until you're perfect to use you. He uses you right where you are, with whatever freedom you've already experienced, to help those who are a few steps behind you.

And as He continues to bring you through deeper levels of healing and freedom, your capacity to help others increases. Your authority deepens. Your anointing grows.

It's a beautiful cycle: God delivers you, you help others find deliverance, and in the process of ministering to others, God delivers you even more. Your testimony becomes someone else's hope, and their breakthrough fuels your continued growth.

This is how God's Kingdom operates. We're all in this together, helping each other walk toward greater freedom, sharing the comfort we've received so others can be comforted too.

An Invitation to Press Through

So wherever you are in your journey right now—whether you're in the trenches getting hit, in the middle of your own deliverance process, or walking in freedom and ready to help others—I want to encourage you:

Don't despise your struggles. Don't waste your pain. Don't give up in the middle of the battle.

God wants to bring you through. He wants to turn your test into a testimony. He wants to give you authority in the very areas where the enemy has attacked you most viciously.

But you have to press through. You have to pursue your own deliverance. You have to let God do the deep work of healing and freedom in your life.

It won't be easy. The trenches are brutal. Getting hit, knocked out, annihilated by the enemy is painful.

But on the other side is anointing. Authority. The ability to help others find the same freedom you've found.

Your test is becoming your testimony. God's not wasting any of it.

Keep pressing through. The breakthrough is coming. And when it does, you'll have something precious to offer others who are still fighting the battles you've already won.

That's the journey from the trenches to anointing. And it's worth every step.

Blessings,
Susan 😊