Tragedies to Triumphs

Tragedies to Triumphs by Jennifer LeClaire

When my husband abandoned me in 1999, leaving me in massive debt with our then-2-year-old baby, I shook my fist at an invisible God I did not yet know and demanded answers for the injustice. He was silent then, but I know now He was watching over me and protecting me. His thoughts over me were thoughts of peace and not evil, to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He had great triumphs for me before I ever accepted His Son into my heart.

About 18 months after my husband disappeared and left my life in utter shambles, I was arrested for a crime I didn't commit. I was facing five years in prison—a sentence that would have left my daughter essentially orphaned. Helpless and hopeless, I finally cried out to God—and He delivered me from the enemy's plot to destroy our lives. Wearing a bright orange jumpsuit in a dark county jail, I surrendered my heart to the one who created me, and the peace of God that passes all understanding guarded my heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

It was in this setting—a county jail filled with prostitutes, drug addicts, thieves and all manner of violent criminals—that I heard the still, small voice of God for the first time. In the face of impossibility God taught me that "all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). He taught me to dream an impossible dream even when everyone around me thought I was foolish to hold out hope.

After several days of supernatural guidance through the Word, the Holy Spirit made it clear to my heart that I would be released from the injustice of imprisonment in forty days. It seemed impossible, considering the judge had refused to allow me bail three times—and this same judge was on vacation well after the 40th day of my captivity, so it seemed there was no way I would be released on that day. All I could say was, "But God."

On the 40th day of my incarceration, I was called into a holding cell with other inmates. I was never tried or convicted by my accusers. I never stood before an earthly judge. Thankfully the judge—Jesus Christ—is not a man that He should lie. I was released on the 40th day, just as the Holy Spirit told me I would be. A judge ruled the whole case a "gross injustice" The accusations were washed away, sort of like my sins when I accepted Jesus.

God has restored my life in beautiful ways, more than making up for the injustice of being abandoned with a baby and falsely accused and imprisoned.

That was just the beginning. The revelation promises the best is yet to come, that my latter shall be greater than my past (Haggai 2:9).

I'm on a new journey with God to dream great things. God is inviting you on the same journey.