(You can see Taleah’s story on video, here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwAgUlziqjc)
Unfortunately, there is no way to accurately describe my salvation experience in a brief way and still give God due glory for the level of darkness he pulled me out of, but I will try my best.
I was born and raised in the complete and utter deception of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was raised believing that Jesus was Michael the Archangel, and the most blasphemes thing a person could do is make Jesus equal to His Father Jehovah. At 19-years-old I got pregnant with my son and was consequently “dis-fellowshipped” and shunned from the organization.
From this point on I drifted a little into New Age thought and into the Occult, mostly out of resentment. But no matter what, I was still indoctrinated enough from childhood to believe that if Jehovah’s Witnesses were wrong about everything else, they were correct at the very least that Jesus was not God. The idea of a man and the “Son” being God was just outrageously ignorant to me.
I was living life at this point as most lost 21-year-olds. Searching for myself in every man, bottle and bar I could find that offered momentary “peace.” I got myself into some bad situations and decided to move away from the town I was born and raised in. At this point I started to have the space that allowed me to start asking good questions about life and my purpose. For the first time I started seeking honest answers. Not just answers that validated my pride.
Incredibly long story of God’s grace and mercy cut short, I stumbled upon Apologia studio videos on Youtube in which Jeff Durbin is confronting Jehovah’s Witnesses about the deity of Christ. I was not buying into his theology at all but I was recognizing the difference in how he was responding to push back, verses how the Jehovah’s Witnesses would run, hide and get defensive. As a child this even seemed weird to me. We (Witnesses) only wanted to preach to people who didn’t know their Bibles but if somebody knew their bible we were intimidated and told to refer them straight to “jw.org for more answers.”
At the time I didn’t know what was happening but I now know that “faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of God”, and the fact that Jeff was using scriptures to back up his claim was little by little shedding light on the strongholds the Enemy had placed in my mind. After about a week of binge watching every encounter with Jehovah’s Witnesses Jeff Durbin had posted – as well as Ray Comfort videos – a new idea popped into my desperate and confused mind. Why don’t I just pray and ask God himself who he is. I was raised believing that questioning Jehovah’s identity was wrong but I figured at this point I had nothing to lose. For the first time I prayed to God as if he was hearing me. I asked Jehovah (the only name I was comfortable with at the time) to reveal to me if He was Jesus, and if it was okay for me to believe He was. I promised Him if he wasn’t, I didn’t want to offend Him but that if He was Jesus, I wanted to serve Him, know Him, and give Him my life (I still get chills when I think about this, even to this day). I asked that if He (God) was Jesus, that He would have to tell me in a very clear way and that it couldn’t be any adults telling me. I told Him that it had become clear to me that people who had the true faith would be in evident in that they would be preaching about him everywhere, not just on Saturday mornings out of religious obligation. The true faith, in my mind, would be evident in children being so in love with God that they would be wanting to help others. I told Jehovah I would need a child to come and tell me what the truth was. I told Him all this as if He didn’t already know exactly what I needed.
After my prayer, I had this indescribable feeling of peace and understanding that He heard my plea and was going to answer because the desire to finally have truth was so genuine. I had never felt this way before. The next day I dropped my son at preschool and felt a spiritual pull to this trail/park. The main parking lot was blocked off but I knew that God was trying to get me there, so I went to the sketchy back parking lot. I had three hours and I told myself I was not leaving until I knew who God was. I sat and read scripture after scripture on my phone of Jesus revealing himself. And all of sudden, the atmosphere changed.
I felt wind in my car even though the window was closed. I think it is in this moment that I fully knew God was communicating with me and going to reveal himself. I felt in heaven. I looked up from the car and it’s like the park had a heavenly glaze on it. For maybe 2-3 seconds I actually thought I was transcending into heaven or being raptured but then I thought “God wouldn’t take me now and leave nobody to pick up Legend from school.” Right then the Holy Spirit of God Almighty filled the car and I felt instantly drunk. I was shocked and had no idea what was happening besides this peace must be from God. Keep in mind Jehovah’s Witnesses teach nothing about the Holy Spirit or Pentecost. I was thrown completely off guard but just smiling and in awe, also a little fear at just how big, mighty, sovereign and tangible God really is.
I didn’t know how I was going to pick up my son from school feeling this drunk but I just trusted God. The Holy Spirit started to pull back and put me back into reality slightly. But I knew he wasn’t finished because I hadn’t received an answer to my main question “Is Jesus God?” I was sad the overwhelming feeling of the Spirit was residing slightly and before it went completely, I started looking down the path literally expecting to see Jesus himself come and tell me the truth. Nothing was too crazy to believe after that encounter with God.
A few seconds or minutes later and there was a knock on my car window. Literally out of nowhere. I looked up and a little boy looking about 12 was standing there. I knew he was from God and that my entire future depended on what he was going to tell me. He nervously and awkwardly asked if he could interview me, still feeling too drunk to speak I mustered out a “yes.” The dialogue we shared is as follows. “Have you ever lied?” “Yes.” “Have you ever stolen anything?” “Yes.” “Okay um… have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and do you realize that He died for your sins?” “.…….I think I am doing that right now, but what does that mean, does that mean Jesus is God? Do you believe that Jesus is God?” “Yes, He is.” “Okay, I believe.” Jesus sent a 14 year old boy named Alex who was raised to be a Roman Catholic and had just come to Christ four months prior to his preaching the gospel to me on his way to tennis practice. Jesus sent Alex to meet me exactly where I was at. This is how Jesus pulled me out of darkness into His glorious light.
The moments and days of awe following are the most treasured of my life. The realization that God heard me, that God loved me, that I now knew Him personally was unreal to me. He was continuing to talk to me in a way that was just so incredible to me and even still is. The Enemy thought he had me, but my God had a plan to turn it for good! I just can’t even describe to you enough how much I just love Jesus and owe Him my life! I plan on keeping good on my promise and dedicating my life to my Lord and Savior, my King, the great Almighty God, Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!
https://www.livingwaters.com/the-deity-of-christ/
This story was written by Taleah and edited by George.