Encountering GOD - Testimony + Discussion with Sonmita Samal | John Giftah Podcast

0:07 I want you to tell a little bit about your story, because you're right

0:11 around doing the things for the Lord. But did you always do this or

0:15 where the moments you went away from the Lord? Or Yeah, in the

0:19 beginning when I spoke about you know, being born in a Christian family doesn't

0:24 truly make your Christian. That's something that definitely applies to me. I have

0:30 been grown in an environment where Jesus has always been given the first place.

0:37 Yes, I've always had the values, the Christian values of going to Sunday

0:41 school, memorizing the Bible was I mean, winning all the scripture union rallies,

0:47 winning Bible competitions. That has always been my thing. But I never

0:51 truly understood the value of that. I knew that there was a part and

0:56 partial of life, but I did not know why I'm doing and what was

1:00 the reason for me to keep Jesus the first place and not myself. And

1:07 it was at that time I think this was during the pandemic. I've had

1:11 a very very I don't know what kind of a mental situation I was in.

1:18 I don't know what I would say what I call that depression? Would

1:21 I give that a name? I have no idea but I wasn't truly happy.

1:26 At the same time, I was still happy. I was happy for

1:29 one thing, that I got some time to spend with my parents and with

1:32 the Lord, knowing the Lord. At the same time, I was very

1:36 unhappy that I wasn't really sure of what was going around with the world.

1:41 And we lost about seven to eight people in the same year, all our

1:46 close relatives, and it was very traumatizing for me. And in the same

1:51 year, I lost my best friend in my university due to pneumonia, and

1:57 she never really told me anything and she never informed so that really hit me

2:02 hard. And this is specific. Date twenty eighth December twenty twenty was the

2:08 first day I felt somebody speak to me. I felt that I heard God's

2:15 voice tell me get up and do this. So I have never recorded videos

2:21 before, and I was like, what am I doing. I don't know

2:23 why am I hearing this voice? And I heard that voice saying, pick

2:28 up your phone, record this video, record yourself, and do it.

2:31 It might be strange to some people, but that's what happened. And I

2:36 did it. And then on I started continuing a page on Instagram where I

2:42 started speaking more about Jesus that's when I came across some people who were really

2:47 suffering the way I was. And in the meantime, there were plans of

2:53 me go finishing my bachelor's degree and going abroad. And when I went there,

2:59 being in that solitude, being alone, I've realized that I needed God.

3:05 I needed Jesus. If I didn't have him, I probably would have

3:09 been shattered. I wouldn't have been in one piece. I would have wouldn't

3:14 have gone any further than my imagination, you know. So there was this

3:20 one point, one day, another date, this is the fourth of June

3:23 twenty twenty three, when I saw Jesus walk with me. This was on

3:30 my way back home, and I felt like somebody is walking with me.

3:35 When I looked on the right, I get goosebumps whenever I tell this to

3:39 people. I actually saw Jesus walking beside me. That was incredible. The

3:45 feeling is incredible. And I was on my way to a park and I

3:51 said, you know what, I'm just going to spend this time with the

3:53 Lord. I went and I slept on the grass and I saw Jesus sleeping

3:57 beside me. That was incredible. After that day, I have never ever,

4:02 ever had any kind of panic attacks anxiety attacks. Don't get me wrong,

4:09 I still have my low moments. I still cry, I'm still human

4:12 being. I will still fall, but I know that my Lord is my

4:15 strong pillar. And like I said, being born in a Christian family doesn't

4:20 make you a Christian. You need to have the encounter with the Lord yourself

4:26 to be able to know if you're a true Christian or not. So that's

4:30 my life. Wow, you still he is so good? So good.

4:33 I mean, when you were sharing about a lot of things, like you

4:36 said, it was just like normal. I wassentually reminded of this that the

4:42 minute. I want to come back to this in a few minutes, but

4:45 I was just reminded of how everybody when you think of me, you always

4:48 think of my book and really a purpose, and everybody thinks of me as

4:54 the purpose guy because I keep talking about you know, you have a purpose

4:57 and things like that. But I don't know if you remember this, but

5:00 I was reminded of how a random question you asked me on my Instagram many

5:05 years ago, I think, how do you how did you find your purpose?

5:10 Right? You asked me. I think I have that screenshot somewhere I

5:14 might put that out. So just a random question that you asked me,

5:19 and that led me to thinking and going deep into that topic led me to

5:24 this book. Wow, even when you didn't realize it, you were actually

5:29 doing something in line with a purpose. That's how God has been using you,

5:34 even when before you had that encounter, God has been working in your

5:40 life and God has been using you. And now you know, I don't

5:44 know if you know this. This became a number one in India this but

5:47 so you know, all this happened because of one question that was asked on

5:50 this can you think about it? So you have no idea what random movements

5:57 are going to lead to extraordinary movements in your lif Absolutely, and a lot

6:00 of people just want to write you of based on where you are. Over

6:03 the years, people are written me or people said all sorts of stuff.

6:06 They made fun of what I've been doing. You're one of the few people

6:11 who didn't do that, but people did that and all of those steps that

6:15 I took and today where the Lord has led me and it's amazing. Just

6:19 one encounter changed you. Yeah. Over the pandemic, people you know,

6:25 either got better or they got better. You got better. So it's all

6:30 the grace of God. The Lord has been doing this, and it's a

6:32 testimony for those, especially if you're a parent worrying about your child or you

6:38 if you're someone who's like, oh my goodness, I've written them off because

6:42 there's no hope for them. But the year's a hope that you know.

6:45 You have no idea how Jesus is going to encounter them, right and like

6:50 for me, I was also raised in a Christian home, but I went

6:54 to church for the chocolate cake's that's all I was interested because I didn't see

7:00 the miracles. I didn't have encounters and all of those things. But one

7:03 fine day, you know, past the beny Hen right when he came to

7:06 Banglord. It was a huge brusade, seven point three million people in attendance,

7:12 and there I had an encounter with the Lord. And there I felt

7:15 this presence touch me. I didn't even know what it was, but that

7:18 changed me completely. And I have, like you said, some people may

7:24 not believe in these encounters, like oh, Jesus walked with you, but

7:27 I have experienced that, so I can believe it with all my heart.

7:30 Like there was once Jesus took me and showed me a glimpse of hell,

7:34 so I know the reality of hell, like it's not a joke. And

7:39 like all of these things, you know, sometimes, you know, Christians

7:41 tend to become extremely theoretical, you know what I mean, Like just read

7:46 the Bible, memorized scriptures and that's it. But there is an experiential part

7:50 that really transforms you absolutely, you know. Like I always say this,

7:55 like reading the Bible will give you information, but only a revelation will give

7:58 you transformation. Yeah, so you need that encounter and the revelation from the

8:03 Lord. You see the transformation. And if God did it for you,

8:07 he will do it for those watching as well. M hmm.