12 Days: A Story of Faith, Hope, Healing, & Victory

By Antoinette Shar'ron Johnson

This book was created for those who don’t believe in
God, for those who don’t believe that God is a healer, and
for those who know God is a healer, but need their faith
strengthened. My hope is you find God is full of mercy and
grace by reading this book. In addition, while you read
this book, I pray tha

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Aug 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640882768

Book preview

12 Days

A Story of Faith, Hope, Healing, & Victory

Antoinette Shar’ron Johnson

What is happening to me? Oh God, please help me!! Why am I in so much agony?! I cannot imagine what Christ went through. My mom held my hand and moaned with me. Her moan matched my moan. It was like she connected with my pain on the same level and was suffering as much as I was.

Dedication

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5 NKJV).

This book is dedicated to those who are going through an emotional, physical, or spiritual struggle. You may be on the verge of losing hope or faith, but I am here to tell you that you need to hold on tightly to your hope and faith and do not give up. Hope and faith in God will help you get through your darkest minutes, hours, days, and nights. Life is full of struggles, tests, and pain. If you hold on for a little while longer, do not give up, and just believe, you will make it to your destination stronger than you would have ever imagined. Struggles build character, and with each struggle we get stronger and stronger. Keep your focus on God through life’s toughest times. Even when the odds are against you, stay positive. Positive thinking is so important when you are going through tough times. You must believe that you are special, because God chose you to go through the struggle for a reason. When you are healed from your physical or emotional pain, you will have a powerful testimony to share with others about how good God is, and how God is a healer! There is no testimony without a test. The hardest part about going through a struggle is believing you will come out victorious in the end. As hard as it can be to remain positive, keep your mind focused on thinking positive. Meditate on those good thoughts. When a negative thought creeps in, rebuke it and say, God is in control. Speak to your situation and say you will make it through. You were not created to succumb to defeat. Believe me, I know how hard it can be to remain positive in a situation that seems hopeless. It is in those moments when your mind wanders that you must be the strongest. Prayer, prayer, prayer and more prayer is the answer. Prayer is your emotional medicine, and prayer can remove anything that is not of God from your thoughts. Prayer can remove doubts, negativity, helplessness, hatred, and fear. Remember, whenever you are going through various trials in life, just understand this—fear not, for the Lord is with you. My mission in life is to empower, inspire, motivate, and uplift all the individuals I meet. I hope that this book helps to empower, inspire, motivate, and uplift you. May God bless you always!

This book is also dedicated to my grandfather, Mr. Sidney T. Harrell. He transitioned into God’s arms on February 3, 2017 at the age of 93. He was active, healthy and was an avid walker in his younger years. Many people his age (and younger) are required by their doctor to take numerous medications, but not my granddad. He was always the picture of health—until shortly before his passing. He went many, many years without entering the hospital, but over the last five years he was hospitalized a couple of times. Those hospitalizations were very serious. Many people would not have made it through the first and second time, but he did. His last hospitalization was more serious than the previous hospitalizations. I admired him because he was very strong. He was literally brought back from the brink of death, and I thank God for that. He transitioned to be with the Lord on his own terms, and his strength was unmatched by many, so I am dedicating this book to my granddad. I am grateful that God allowed me and my family the blessing of having my granddad in our lives for as long as we had him. I will forever love the first man who ever loved me.

Preface

The devil wanted to take you out, but God said no. Your life has been spared for a reason. You have work to do.

This story is an actual account of what I experienced as the result of a surgical procedure that went wrong. As I sat and wrote this story, I remembered the many emotions that I felt during this situation: happiness, sadness, joy, pain, despair, thankfulness, gratefulness, humbleness, hopefulness, courageousness. These are a few of the emotions I felt as I lay in a hospital bed staring at the ceiling, unsure of what tomorrow would bring, while still holding onto hope and possibility. The only emotion that I did not feel was fear. I felt God’s presence, and He took care of me through this situation. I knew He would see me through. Each day alive helped me to see how real God is. He did not leave me alone. From sunrise to sunset as I lay in my hospital bed, I saw people come and go, weather changes, current events on television—life was going on, and I did not want to be left out. Life is given to all of us to pass something along to someone else. It is my mission to pass something positive to someone—anyone—because my mission is to empower, inspire, motivate, and uplift all with whom I come in contact. God allowing me to live through a devastating surgical experience was not for me to just say, Thank you, God, for the healing, it was for me to share what I went through with as many people as possible, so that they would understand that faith and belief in God is critical to healing. I decided to write this story to tell people that God is in the healing business. If you trust and believe in Him, He WILL see you through. The Bible says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5 NKJV). It is best, in certain instances, not to try to figure things out on our own. God is here to help us figure things out. My cousin Sheila said to me, The devil wanted to take you out, but God said no. Your life has been spared for a reason. You have work to do. I believe that statement with my whole heart. Although being spared because of a specific purpose is overwhelming, I will do my best to fulfill the destiny that God has placed before me. Ever since she told me that, I began to think about it deeply. I tried to figure out exactly what she meant. I concluded, in my case, that God did not lay out my purpose in a nice, neat little package. I know what my purpose is, but there are many layers to my purpose, and God will reveal the complete purpose to me piece by piece, as I put the plans into action. What I have realized is that my gift is not to be held onto; it is to be shared with others.

I was supposed to recover in two weeks, but it took two months. For reasons known to God, He allowed me to be the vessel to endure that situation and share it. My life was spared for a reason. We don’t know how much time we have on earth. I choose to not concentrate on that. I am going to use my time as productively as possible to be a positive example. I will take the time to look at my life and meditate deeply on my purpose. I will trust and believe that God will lead me in the right direction.

I do not proclaim to be a biblical scholar, but I have placed scripture in particular chapters of this book as a point of context, according to my experience.

Acknowledgments

Thank you, God, for allowing me to come through this ordeal alive. Thank you to my grandmother and