Carol Has Been Delivered From Her Phobias

I was baptised in the Church of Christ when I was 14 but never told about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I believed God was still as powerful as He’d been in Biblical times but never saw that power in the churches I’d attended. Disillusioned, I decided to live a good life and get to heaven that way.
I married and became a mother but as life went on I saw that it wasn’t easy to be good. I regretted things I’d done, wishing I could start again. The hardest thing was to forgive myself.

In 1981 I was baptised by full immersion and received the Holy Spirit three weeks later, speaking in tongues, a pure, clear language I’d never learned. Through prayer and the Holy Spirit my dependence on alcohol became a thing of the past. I had peace. My past was forgotten by God. He gave me a clean, new chapter. I experienced comfort beyond compare.

Since my baptism, my fourth child was born with Down’s syndrome. Then my husband died when she was 13 years old, leading to her having anxiety and depression for 12 years. I too loved my husband and gained comfort knowing that he had received the Holy Spirit and was in God’s safe keeping, but I had to contend with both my own natural feelings of grief as well as my daughter’s illness. Everyday issues, once shared with my husband, now caused me much anxiety. I developed phobias about food and sickness. Counselling, praying and fellowship helped me through the dark days. The nights were the worst but I would pray to God because I knew that He would never leave me. As I prayed about the phobias and my daughter’s health I would feel a peace. It was as though He’d removed the thoughts from my mind, wrapped His arms around me and sent me to sleep.

Once my daughter was pre-occupied with her Father’s death, but she now speaks of the happier times with him in her younger days, and of heaven, where she will one day see her Father again. Occasionally I have a small setback regarding the phobias but it is nothing like before. I pray and am comforted. The Lord has given me peace. The past has been forgiven and He is with me through all times. I truly thank Him and praise His wonderful name.

Carol is a member of The Revival Fellowship - Adelaide, South Australia