Testimony or Excuse?

Have you ever read stories of the lives of great men and women? One thing I have noticed they all seem to have in common is that they overcame something big in their lives. For some, it was an abusive childhood. For others, it was abject poverty. Some were orphans in a setting that was far from normal family life.
We all probably have something in our life that we can point to and say:"this is why I have not been all I could have been." We give ourselves an excuse to fail (or not try something that we consider risky).
The way I see it, we have a choice. Those things in our lives can be an excuse, or they can be our testimony. The decision we have to make, and it is a decision, is this: Will I hide under my past and circumstances and use them as an excuse or will I stand on top of them and testify to the greatness of God as He has transformed me to what He created me to be?

Check this out for transformation:

“And you He made alive, who were dead (separated / cut off) in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and on the minds, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love, with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." Ephesians 2:1-5

• But you don’t understand: I tried to pour my life into people and love them, but they have taken advantage of me and hurt me. BUT GOD!
• I was abused as a child and it is hard for me to trust people. I understand; BUT GOD!
• We all have “stuff”. The difference is what we do with it.