Notes from this week's podcast: Transformed Tuesday with Sabrenia Sanders

Jo: Sabrenia introduce yourself to our audience. 

Sabrenia: I've known Jo for ten plus years. I'm married, retired. I have 9 grandchildren and 3 children. 

Jo: You have a business that keeps you active; it's your calling. You flow through your business. 

Sabrenia: We have a little farmer's market. My husband and I enjoy it. 

Jo: I want you to share your testimony -- how God has transformed your life through the years and made you who you are today, using you.

What was the most life-changing event that caused you to be all-in for God?

Sabrenia: I was saved in my youth and rocked along through my youth, my life as a young adult, young wife, young mother. I just did not have a relationship, but I was going to church. I was doing the things that I was supposed to do as a Christian. But, what I didn't realize was there was no relationship.

In my 40s, my husband and I, we hit a major bump in the road. It was a financial bump. When I saw we were taken to rock bottom, that's where we went. On the verge of losing everything, and just pure desperation. That's where the Lord knew He had to take us to get our attention. It was drastic. It was life-altering. And, where my husband and I came to was, we had no where to turn but the Lord. I started crying out to Him, just in utter desperation: Lord, this is a mess. I don't know what to do.

I remember standing at my kitchen counter one day and out of the clear blue -- the troubles we had always stayed on my mind -- the Lord said, "You're trying to depend on the wrong person. You're turning to your husband and it's Me." At that point, Greg and I rededicated our lives to Christ. Things started changing. And a lady that I had met at the church we were going to at the time, she told me about His Vessel Ministries. And I had never heard of it. But I signed up for the God of Order Class. Through His Vessel Ministries, I really started learning the truths of God, His order, and most importantly, having a relationship with Him, where the desire was to seek Him and fall more and more and more in love with Him. I remember in one of the classes, you said: "I can't wait to get up in the morning and just be with God." And I remember sitting at my desk one day and sharing with a sales rep and saying, "That's where I want to be." 

There's so much more to [the Lord] than the way I lived most of my life, as a young mother, a young wife, and I just so wished I had known all of that at a much, much younger age. The Lord knew what it was going to take to get my attention, and praise God, we did turn to Him.

Since then, it's just become a cornerstone -- the Lord is a cornerstone. He's transformed our lives and our home life.

Jo: You used the word desperation. Most people say, "Get me out of this!" No one wants to be desperate. But I heard that was a good place for God to find you because it caused you to turn to Him. And then, you made it so simple: you just wanted to be with Him.

Sabrenia: I remember walking through that time. I did not want to walk through it. But when the Lord brought us out on the other side and when I shared my testimony: I would do it a hundred times over again. I would walk through that again for what the Lord did in our lives. 

Jo: Don't give up. Even in desperation, don't give up. Coming out of desperation, don't give up. God is with you through it.

Sabrenia: Yes, He is. And, for the majority of my life I've always gone by emotions and feelings, but we live by the Word of God and what He says and we stand firm on it. He drew me in.

Jo: There's a big difference in leaning on God through the Holy Spirit and following your emotions and feelings because they can certainly misguide you. Leaning on God will always take you to the Word, which is truth. It may not feel good but the truth is always the way to go.

Sabrenia: What I had to understand: He will make our paths straight because He promises that but it doesn't mean that it will be smooth sailing. He will absolutely see us through anything. 

Jo: And in those difficulties, how was He making you better? Because you refused to give up. He could have lifted that off of you. But He allowed you to go through it. So, how did He make you better from experiencing those difficulties?

Sabrenia: He gave me hope. I felt hope in a hopeless situation. And He also redirected me to  understand that what I thought was important in life was not important. My focus was on the things of this world and He had to show me that.

I never shed one tear on that house. He had brought me to a place of knowing that my Lord and Savior was what was important in this life. And my relationship with Him. He knew exactly what He had to take me through and my husband. And I praise God for that.

Jo: You said earlier about getting things in order. It sounds like that was one point in the journey that you began to order things. How do you order your life now?

Sabrenia: It's recognizing that the Lord is our source for everything. That I come to Him with all things, not just big things, but even little things. In "God of Order" I had the conception that the husband leading the home was just old school. And when I understood the order that God has for our home, it's for each and every person in that home for their best and benefit, and for their protection. When I understood that God puts my husband over our home, to shoulder things that are not meant to reach my shoulders and that we are to be each other's helper. God made us man and woman to carry out our own responsibilities. That transformed the way I viewed my husband -- wanting to support and serve him, in turn he supported me and served me. Our godly home would hopefully be reflected to our children and grandchildren.

The chaos and confusion in my home started to flee.

Jo: And you recognized it. The simple truth from the Word of God cleared out the chaos.

It sounds like you started doing some things differently. What challenges did you have? And what did you do to answer that challenge?

Sabrenia: In "God of Order," we had physical and spiritual teachings. The spiritual teaching had more of an impact on me -- just welcoming God into our home and wanting it to be a sanctuary -- a place of peace, a place where God could rest with us. It brings the joy of the Lord into your home.

Jo: This looks so different from the world. In those moments, what did it look like leaning into God?  

Sabrenia: There were a couple of things that I had bought into [from] the world: Halloween and Easter. We celebrated Halloween in our home and I was convicted that I needed to stop, that it was not God-honoring at all. The Easter bunny and Easter eggs -- I was strongly convicted and removed both of those [traditions] from my home. The conviction kept coming, even though I told the Lord that it was just for fun.

Jo: Isn't that the way the enemy does? He slivers in on a little bit of truth and brings all the garbage with him. Plus, everybody else is doing it.

You said: If it's the truth from the Word of God, then it's the truth, even if it didn't feel like it.

Sabrenia: It is the ultimate final say on everything.

Jo: How did you get to that point in your life?

Sabrenia: Finally just coming to a point where I realized "Sabrenia, take your pitiful intellect out of it." What "I" think. Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and submit ALL of your ways to Him.

For me, it was taking my feelings, my intellect out of it and standing on the Word of God. Do I still struggle? Absolutely.

Jo: God doesn't give up on us.

During that time of desperation, moving closer to God, were there moments or times that you isolated yourself? feeling ashamed or a failure?

Sabrenia: Absolutely. I had feelings that I didn't want to be around anybody, just my husband and that's it. I didn't want to be social.

When we got to the point of rededicating our lives, we were trying to get involved in church and I began the "God of Order" Discipleship Class. I had never been around like-minded women like that before, partly because I didn't avail myself as a young adult to that environment.

The ladies in the class were real and shared about life. I felt like I had walked around my whole life with a mask on my face.

Jo: Like-minded how?

Sabrenia: They were seeking the Lord but were all there with our troubles and our difficulties and were just trying to seek the Lord for Him to help us walk through this life.

Jo: How did you break from that time of isolation -- knowing that you didn't need to stay there, getting closer to God to the point that you embraced being in fellowship with other women.

Sabrenia: When I joined up with His Vessel Ministries, and the "God of Order" Discipleship Class, I was very excited about it. I knew none of the women I was in class with. They were sharing and being real and that drew me. I asked the Lord to help me put [my feelings and emotions] aside.

Jo: That comes back to trusting God. You leaned into Him.

Sabrenia: The enemy uses isolation with us greatly. We're all walking through something. But, we look at others and other families and think we're the only one. The enemy uses isolation and keeps snowballing and stay isolated. "There's no hope for me." We need to share the hope and promises of God's Word. We can all be encouragers and it doesn't have to be in a grand way, just a kind word. 

Jo: What would you say to our listeners to press on and press in with God?

Sabrenia: We were talking about hope. We need to share the hope and promises of God's Word. And when we go through difficult times and we've seen the hand of God, [our] testimony brings His Word to life. It gives hope, and it encourages people -- for a lost person or a saved person -- and it reflects on who God is. He is true to His Word. He will never leave us or forsake us.

We can't go back in time. God is a redeemer of our time.

Jo: We all need it. We all have something to offer. God never lets anything touch us that's not intended to make us better. He wants us to pass it on to someone else. You're doing that with your life. You've walked with God and you've allowed God to show you the way. And now you're better and now you're passing it on to someone else.

Sabrenia: Praise God!  

Scripture for further encouragement: Proverbs 3:5-6