Today, I’m honored to welcome Erica Dunomes as our guest writer for the “Satan Thought He Had Me: Stories of Redemption That Will Give You Hope” series. She has an incredible testimony of how Jesus saved her from a life of self-destruction, shame, and hopelessness. He gave her a new name and a new destiny, transforming her life completely. Her story of grace and hope will inspire and encourage you.

How Jesus Saved Me and Showed Me My True Worth and Hope

If I were to ask you for the one thing that you are most grateful for, what would you say? For me, I would say life. For as long as I can remember, I have always been grateful for life. Life is a beautiful thing, and there is something beautiful about being alive. The funny thing is I have not always seen the beauty of my life. In fact, there was a time in my life when I wished that it would end. But then God showed up, and now I get to tell the story of his Son and how Jesus saved me. 

A Miracle Shoebox Baby

First of all, let me start by saying what an honor and a privilege it is right now to be sharing my story with you. Would you believe me if I told you that there was a time in my life when this was almost not possible? Would you believe me if I told you that I almost died? It takes my mom to talk about it. According to her, her pregnancy with me was a very complicated one. Due to those complications, I ended up being born two months early and premature. I’ve been given the name shoe-box baby because my first bed was actually a shoe box. 

The Enemy of Our Souls

Did you know that we have an opponent in our lives? It’s true. His name is Satan. Here are some other names that he goes by devil, enemy, adversary, and thief. For a long time now, he has been battling with God to steal, kill, and destroy our lives, identities, and our destinies. He starts way before we are ever born. His plan is to keep us from knowing God and having the life of his Son in us. 

There’s a saying that nothing happens by coincidence. In fact, the word of God says that everything that happens in life has a time and a purpose. It is my belief that before my life could even truly begin, the devil tried to take it. Satan thought he had me. But God. God had other plans. He allowed me to live. 

Created With and for a Purpose

Can I tell you something? God has a purpose for your life. You are not here by accident. You see, God purposed that for such a time as this, I would be alive, and my life would bring him glory. Friend, he wants to do the same with you. God wants to use your life for his glory.

Now, let’s really get into how Jesus saved me. 

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 

I first gave my life to Christ when I was eighteen years old. At that time, I was a teenage mom of a two-year-old little boy. Growing up going to church was sporadic in our household. We were the family that only attended occasionally. Because of that, I had no real understanding of just how important a relationship with Jesus Christ was. However, though sporadic, it is my belief that those occasional attendances were moments God used to plant seeds of faith. He knew they would be vital to how Jesus saved me. 

Due to some unfortunate events that happened in the younger years of my life, I spent my teenage to my young adult years having no real understanding of the value of my life. I wrote earlier about wishing that my life would end. This was that season. By this time, I had experienced five pregnancies. I suffered one miscarriage and lost a beautiful baby girl a few years later. A single mom of three and struggling to know who I really was, I was highly promiscuous. I felt worthless and without direction. 

But God.

He began tugging on my heart to recommit my life back to Him. It was a tug from which I ran. I laugh to this day at remembering the night I said that I was not ready to stop doing what I was doing then. What’s ironic is that what I was doing was the same thing that had me wishing my life would end. I was clubbing, drinking, and having promiscuous sex. I was living a life of sin that made me most miserable. 

To be honest, it was never the life I had pictured I would ever live. While hanging on by a mere thread of hope, I became desperate for change. I had found a church by way of my sisters that I had started taking my little family to. It became our first real church home. It was there that change came. On December 3, 2006, I recommitted my life back to Christ. I became a new creation that day. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ~2 Corinthians 5:17 

A New Life

Life got better for me after Jesus came into it. I started spending time with Him, getting to know him through reading His Word. I would pray and ask Him to reveal Himself to me and help me to understand what I read. God proved himself. He proved Himself real, and he proved Himself faithful. In 2009, I met my husband. We married and became a blended family in 2010. 

In spite of the new changes, life in Christ did not get easier. Satan got busier. Many issues arose. Marriage and family issues. Financial issues. Health issues. Whatever the enemy could find to use, he used it with no slack. Yet, through all of it, God remained unchanging. 

Having been saved for almost twenty years now, I’ve come to realize that all those years ago, it wasn’t really about what I needed. It was all about Who I needed. I needed Jesus. I needed His truth and the gift of salvation that He offered me. How Jesus saved me was by covering me with His blood and by washing away all of my sins. 

How Jesus Gives Us New Life

There’s an exchange that happens when you give your life to Christ. He exchanges death for abundant life. He exchanges your sin for His righteousness. You receive His beauty for your ashes. You receive a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. There’s a peace that becomes yours that will surpass all your understanding. And when you seek first the Kingdom, everything you need, His Father supplies. 

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:19 

Life is a beautiful thing and there is something beautiful about being alive. It’s the beauty of being used by God. You become His workmanship and your life becomes a story. One that He becomes the author of. When allowed, He lovingly, graciously, and mercifully weaves Himself through even the smallest details. Somewhere in the in-between, He causes you to overcome. He then leads you to the purpose of laying down your life and allowing you to tell others about Him. 

When Jesus Saved Me, I Couldn’t Imagine All He Would Do With My Life

I had no idea that my life would lead up to this moment. I really never saw anything about my story worth telling. But God. He is good. It is that goodness that He wants others to know about. I am more than honored to tell of Him. 

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ~Psalm 34:8 

Telling others about Jesus is something I do weekly on my personal website. If you’d love to keep in touch with me further, kindly, join me there. 

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About the Author: Erica Dunomes

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