The past three years, God has walked me through tremendous healing.
If you don’t already know my story, I went through a really painful divorce at a very young age. I was 21 years old when he left.
My heart was deeply hurt.
I was left feeling used, worthless, rejected, unwanted, and abandoned. That time in my life was the most emotional pain I have ever felt (you can read my whole story here).
Many people in this world who are facing pain try to numb it by turning to temporary solutions. They are searching for anything that will provide a sense of relief – like someone who is drowning and will do anything to get another breath of air.
I think that is why there is so much addiction in this world – because out of desperation people turn to drugs, sex, alcohol, unhealthy relationships, or anything else that will numb the pain they are facing. These things might numb the pain temporarily, but it will always fade away and leave a person’s heart even emptier.
One thing I have learned about pain (any kind of pain – physical or emotional) is – you have to feel it in order to heal from it.
If we try to skip the hard part by trying to ignore, suppress, or numb our pain, we can’t be properly healed. It’s just like a physical cut – we have to go through physical pain for the cut to be healed.
Once we get through the hard and painful part, we experience true healing. I have experienced this first hand. God walked me through the valley of darkness for a whole year until my wound started scabbing over as The Lord slowly healed my heart.
When I imagine me and God, I picture us walking on a beautiful beach together, hand in hand, during sunset. There is no one else there except us. I imagine coming to cliffs and rocks that are hard to climb, and He helps me over them. When I was going through that painful year in my life, I imagined God carrying me in his arms, on that same beach, as I was sobbing into His shoulder.
As hard and painful as that time was, it brings tears to my eyes to remember how faithful God was to me. No matter what people in my life walked away from me, God never did. He was always there – holding me, carrying me, walking with me, healing me, guiding me, and redeeming me.
He was aware of every tear that I shed and he was the only one who fully and completely understood what I felt inside – and that is what brought me comfort through that time. I clung to Him more tightly than ever and found hope in His promises.
I can now say with CONFIDENCE that God allowed me to go through that time for a greater purpose than myself. I can declare without a doubt that I have witnessed God’s promises come true in my life.
I have seen God use the trial that I went through to minister to so many hurting and lost people. I have met more people in the past two years who are going through a divorce or something similar than I have in my entire life – and I know that’s not an accident. I have been able to offer comfort, hope, and encouragement to these people because of what God walked me through.
There is something so encouraging about talking to someone who has gone through what you are going through and has come out of it. It gives us hope and helps us see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I have seen this beautiful passage of scripture come true in my life as God continues to give me opportunities to minister to people. This month in Rwanda, I got the opportunity to preach to a group of prostitutes. We walked several miles to a small village in order to reach these women.
I shared a passage of scripture with them that is really close to my heart:
“For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit – a wife who married young, only to be rejected, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with a deep compassion I will bring you back.” Jeremiah 54: 5-7
I remember reading this two years ago, and feeling that it was written directly to me. It spoke to the depths of my heart.
I shared my story with these women and told them how God healed me and redeemed me. I told them that I am whole again because of God. I told them that I have become stronger because of what I went through. I told them that God was always faithful, always is faithful, and always will be faithful. I told them that I don’t know what they are facing, but God does, and he wants to help them, comfort them, heal them, and redeem them.
Two of the women I spoke to came to church on Sunday.
I can only give glory to God for bringing good out of an awful situation in my life. I’m no longer afraid of going through trials in this life because I have seen the fruit that The Lord brings from them.
God does not allow us to go through hardships in vain – He always brings something beautiful and good from the trials we face when we trust in Him.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
