IDENTITY IN CHRIST

By Afeni Oluwabunmi

SAFACS 2023 ENTRY 12

Growing up was an adventurous and eventful time for Dayo since she had a fair share of activities as an elder's child in church and also portrayed herself to be what people looking up to her expected of her, she religiously undertook activities in church without comprehending the purpose of anything she was doing. She wasn't a stable Christian, as life's circumstances pushed her in and out of God's presence.

Dayo has always had a clear vision of how she wanted her life to be: from the career, she desired to the type of partner she desired, to the number of children, the type of house, and automobiles, and the number of businesses. However, obtaining it appeared to be a challenge because she didn't know what to do; studying seemed difficult, relationships weren't working out, and failure, discouragement, doubt, and fear began to grow. It felt as if things were not working for Dayo. You know how they say it takes drops of water to fill a river; what she thought, what she spoke, and her actions started accepting and deciding to settle for how her life was.

The turning point for Dayo was one faithful night, she had a bittersweet dream. In the dream, Dayo was having a conversation with the members of her family and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her leg, she looked at her leg and discovered she was bitten by a snake and the fang of the snake was in her leg and her leg was swollen. She felt the need to pray loud and fast in tongues, she felt the power of God radiating over her, she looked at her leg and saw the fang of the snake detached from the snake’s mouth. She released the snake and felt the need to pray more, the fang of the snake fell off her leg, the swelling reduced and the wound closed up.

She woke up from her dream and realized that even in her weakness and carefree life God is with her and ready to help her. She decided to accept Jesus genuinely and be intentional about doing his will and pleasing him.

She also realized that having dreams and aspirations is not enough for them to be fulfilled but that there is someone who can lead and guide her in the actualization of her dreams.

Dayo understands now that God isn't just a “Being” her family worships, but she recognizes and knows her place as a daughter of God, and has received help to radiate her light in all areas of her light for people to see the difference in her lifestyle because she reckons with the verse that says the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploit which is her testimony.