ASCEND
The title of this piece speaks to rising from the valley, from pain to purpose, from suffering to spiritual elevation.“Planted Promise”
I’ve been through the fire, but I didn’t come out burned. I came out branded. Marked by mercy. Stamped by survival. Signed by the Sovereign. They tried to bury me, but didn’t realize, they were planting a promise. The dirt they threw was soil. The tears I cried, water. The prayers I whispered, seed. Now I bloom in the very place I bled. I didn’t just survive, I saw. Saw the other side of pain, the underside of betrayal, the edge of bitterness, and lived to tell it. Now I move different, cause I was made different. I know now what the Scripture means when it says: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2) Because I didn’t drown, I learned how to breathe underwater. I prayed when I had no words. Worshipped when it was dark. Fought with hands lifted, not fists clenched. I’ve been in the valley, and found HIM just as near there as the mountaintop. Hard pressed but not crushed, you know the verse (2 Corinthians 4:8–9) But I didn’t just quote it, I embodied it. I lived it. I carry a sound in my spirit that only suffering can shape. See, what hurt me also healed me. The fire taught me boundaries, how not to let anyone just walk through my soul. The betrayal taught me discernment, who’s for me, who’s just near me. The storm trained my sensitivity, not to every voice, but to HIS. Now I walk with wisdom that makes shallow spaces feel too small. Not just because I’m deep, but because I know what it cost me to stand. And here’s the truth: Freedom isn’t selfish. It’s contagious. It’s prophetic. It’s power passed on. So I won’t just shout about the mountain, I’ll guide you through the valley. Show you where to step so you don’t fall where I did. Because if I made it, so can you. Not just tested, I was trusted. Trusted with pain that would become Revelation. Weight, that would produce Authority. Hardship, that would birth Holy Confidence. So now, when chains fall off of me, I watch them fall off others too. And all hell knows: what tried to kill me only crowned me. What tried to silence me only gave me a new sound. Not the sound of survival, but of victory. Amen