Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Antidote to Fear

When my boyfriend raped me one afternoon during my junior year of high school, I was in deep shock for hours.

But that night in my dark bedroom when I began to thaw--fear flooded my mind.

What if I became pregnant? What if he gave me a venereal disease? What if anyone at school found out? What if my parents found out? It was overwhelming.

I cried out to God in prayer begging him to fix this. Could He undo it somehow? It seemed like a childish thing to ask--but I didn't see how I could keep going with this new assault to my being.

God heard me.

He didn't magically remove the rape, but He communicated to my heart that He was with me. He flooded my soul with awareness that He would never desert me or betray me.

I have spoken to other abuse victims who have received the same exact message.

God understands our needs. Jesus Christ was beaten and betrayed during His time on earth as fully God and fully human. He experienced abuse then--and He has experienced your abuse right when it was happening to you. He never abandons you. Immanuel (one of the Biblical references to Jesus that means "God with us") truly is with us. He knows by name the fearful, the oppressed, the brokenhearted, the violated, and the betrayed. He comforts us with His presence in the ugliest moments of our life.



Thank you, Heavenly Father, for naming your son "God with us." Thank you for being with us in the most horrendous hours we have endured. Help us to fully receive your presence and your comfort so that we may comfort others as well.

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