I heard my old friend Ronnie give his testimony a few days ago to a recovery group. He started off telling them he had been in prison most of his 59 years, all drug- and alcohol-related crimes. His father had committed suicide when he was 11, which did a number on him—for decades. But Ronnie said it still could have been different.

In 1969 in Phoenix, fresh out of jail for marijuana possession and hitchhiking back to Texas, he spotted a guy named Johnny Sanchez who called to him from outside a Teen Challenge center. Two nights later, Ronnie, broken in his sins, received Jesus as his Savior.

Here is part of his testimony: “The power that we have as believers is in our scars. The stuff we’ve been through, the hard stuff you’ve been through that has left scars on your soul, is where the power of God is resident. You are anointed in that place to set captives free in the name of Jesus.”

Then he quoted Isaiah 10:27: “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing.” Ronnie said the “his” is the Enemy, and his “burden” or “yoke” is whatever bondage he has saddled you with that has kept you from reigning in life and being an instrument in the Savior’s hand.

Before I met Ronnie, I thought I knew how sanctification worked. Now I put my hand over my mouth and confess that I am ignorant of God’s wisdom and his power. All I know now is that, like Ronnie said the other day, “God will bring to completion what he has begun.” Sooner or later.