"I am a Mother of Revival!"
I’d like to share an encounter I had with Jesus on April 6, 2024, at a Mountain Mama Rising event in Cowen, West Virginia. First, I need to go back to give some context as to what was happening in my life leading up to that divine appointment.
Hi, my name is Sarah Ballard. I’ve been in church all of my life. My mother, aunts, and grandmother were the ones that ran the Sunday school from the nursery up to adults, started the WV Women’s Aglow, set up the payer meetings, taught their babies how to speak the word and pray through. They even started a K-12 Christian school back in 1984 that’s still thriving today. I have been blessed with brilliant examples of Proverbs 31 women in my life.
I’m a mama of 3 incredible, teenage boys. Boys whose lives have been branded by fire since a very young age. Firebrands, marked by God to reveal his glory in the earth is what they are. I’ve always known, even before they were born, that I was commissioned by God to raise men of God. I’m no stranger to the testing of that calling.
In November of 2021 it was prophesied over me that I was a mother of revival. Those words framed everything I had known and prepared for all of my life and gave direction for my future. The word spoken was loaded with destiny and drenched in anointing. Let me tell you, since that day I have been stripped of every earthly component that would qualify me as a mother… other than my children. I lost my marriage, my home, ministries where I lead other youth, a job where I taught youth, even Christian friends and people who had been my family for over 20 years. The kingdom I had been building with God all of my life completely crumbled. I lost everything, or so it seemed.
In August of 2023, my boys and I moved to a new town, new horizons, a fresh start. As I began to put the pieces back together, I was hit with another blow. This time it was my health, my very life. September 8, 2023, I got the word no one wants to hear. Cancer. Stage 2. Invasive. Breast Cancer. On October 23, 2023, I had an aggressive mastectomy.
See what the enemy was doing? God clued me in early on. He was attacking my IDENTITY. He was after my purpose. His attempt was to destroy any semblance of a mother that I possessed. To many from the outside, he may have succeeded, but God KEPT me through all of that. Then in December of 2023 the most difficult battle I’d ever faced showed up at my door.
I don’t know the date, but I remember the day. I remember the feeling. The overwhelming emotions that flooded me were unfamiliar and terrifying, and I was drowning in them. By God’s grace I have always been a strong-minded person, optimistic, faith filled, joyful. I was the one He sent to encourage others when they were struggling. God often gave me words for people to pull them out of the pit. At one time, I was a mentor in a nationwide, online marriage group. For years, I’d had my own Facebook group helping hundreds of women to focus on the good and lovely in their walk with Christ. I had overcome so much trauma, defied the odds. I was at the point where I should be doing my victory dance. But here I was, suddenly buried under a mountain of depression. Some moments I’d be okay then it would swoop in out of nowhere. This overwhelming feeling of loss smothering me like a heavy blanket. The best word I can use to describe the emotion I felt is homesick. Sometimes it would hit me sitting in church or walking through Walmart. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I avoided being alone. I tried to keep busy. Sometimes all I could do was go to bed and try to sleep it away. I knew this was a spiritual battle. I’d survived my darkest days. There was no reason I shouldn’t be rejoicing. I was throwing at it every weapon in my arsenal. Prayer. Praise. Scripture. Worship. The fact was there was no reason to feel like this, and nothing I was doing to fight it was working. Which brought on another new emotion for me - fear. Why was I feeling like this and why couldn’t I conquer it? The fact that I felt so powerless against it scared me. Then it dawned on me, the answer to this new why was no different than all the other whys that had darkened my door in recent years. Why did my marriage end? Why did I lose so many and so much? Why did I have cancer? Why was I facing this battle for my mind, will, and emotions? Why? Because we have an adversary, and that adversary was out to destroy my identity. So, I kept doing what I knew to do; what He told me to do day in and day out.
In mid-March of 2024 He told me to go to a Mountain Mama Rising gathering on April 6th in Cowen, WV. I reminded Him that I’d just had another cancer surgery and that was a long drive. You know, in case He was unaware of those things. He still wanted me to go so I said, "Okay." I rounded up a couple of friends, planned the day, and off we went. On the 2 1/2 hour drive there, so much was stirring in the spirit. Against my better judgment, He even gave me a word to give when I got there. When arrived I gave the word which was strategic for that day and time. He reminded me again that His judgment is always better than mine. He’s funny like that, you know. He was clarifying that I was in the right place at the right time, undoubtedly.
As Becky Keener began to speak that day about her struggles with depression, everything she said was gripping me. I knew firsthand now what she was describing. If I’m being honest, I was asking God, “Why do your people who love you and are serving you have to live this way?” and “Wow, 12 years!? God, I’m not sure I can survive 12 years like this?” Then she talked about her deliverance, and I knew that’s why He sent me there that day. I felt faith rise up in me. I had been believing for it all along, but He put me in that room that day to impart faith to me for that particular battle I was facing. I had faith through all the other battles I’d fought. But I had faced fear in this one. God brought me here this day to give me FAITH from an overcomer. Becky was a woman who had fought this battle and won.
When they gave the call for prayer and ministry my heart was stirred. I said, “Lord, if you can do it for Becky, you can do it for me.” I went forward and both Krista and Becky laid hands on me and prayed. I’m here to tell you that in that moment at that Mountain Mama Rising meeting in Cowen, I received FAITH that I can conquer any battle like this, but I also received DELIVERANCE from the vicious war Satan had waged on my mind. I was set free in an instant. As quickly as it came it had to go! Hallelujah! God put me in a room where His power was resident and reigned supreme over the enemy’s attack on my identity!
I AM A MOTHER OF REVIVAL! I AM A MOUNTAIN MAMA RISING!
Sarah Ballard