I was asked the question: Where was God when I was being abused? The question caused me to think, pray, and search for answers because I had not wondered where God was when I was being abused. I had blamed myself. The truth is, people deal with abuse in many different ways, not realizing, abuse can’t be dealt with in our minds; it must be healed! I pray this “Minute Manna” will help HEAL YOU! The first thing I would establish with a child or adult is that God is good! God never “causes” bad things. I am also adamant that, not only does God not “cause” bad things, neither does He allow them “FOR THE PURPOSE OF” teaching us lessons. My reason for saying that is, if you teach children that God causes or allows abuse, pain, or horrific events to teach them lessons, they will think that God is “mean.” They will not see God as the protecting Father that He is. They will fear every lesson in life and will never desire to grow in God or grow at all for that matter. Because to “grow” would mean they would need to endure something negative. That is NOT God. Does He use bad things? YES! Is that His choice or His plan for growth and teaching? NO! I always use Scripture to answer questions. God is good, and IN HIM there is NO BAD THING. His very nature is good, and His thoughts toward us are good and never evil. (Jeremiah 29:11) We were created in His image, and He calls us His dear children. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God’s design. He would never harm us! (Psalm 139:14) Once I know, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, that I have established that God is good…. I have then “FED” what I want to grow, because whatever you feed will grow I want the child’s/adult’s faith in God to grow, so I feed it with Scriptures and God’s goodness. NEXT What God reveals – He heals so…. After I am confident that the child/adult is sure of God’s love, then I allow the Holy Spirit to “REVEAL” THE PROBLEM. The problem is not God’s absence because God is NEVER ABSENT. HE IS OMNI-PRESENT. The problem is satan’s presence. The problem is “SIN!” The problem is the kingdom of darkness. Bad people live in this world, and because God made us “free” with our own wills, He will not go against His own will. He cannot! Cain killed Able, the evil began as soon as sin entered the garden but God was there! God simply could not go against His original design, which was, that we CHOOSE to love, be good, help others, and protect others. Even when we hate GOD…He does not stop us for it is our choice! The devil is so evil that he beat, spat on, mocked, mutilated, and killed God’s only Son. God was there, but He spoke not a word. God knew that His Son was the answer for our sin, but not all choose to receive the answer, and, unfortunately, those who do not choose Jesus, embrace the evil in them and use it to hurt others. God’s heart is broken. He weeps with us; He is holding us through it all, whispering in our ear, and that is why we are not destroyed. He will never leave us nor forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5) Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us. (Psalm 23) He doesn’t remove the valley; He doesn’t remove the shadow of death, but neither does HE REMOVE HIMSELF! He is a present help in time of need. (Psalm 46) When we are abused, hurt, or wronged in any way, we are now faced with the choice to “embrace” the evil done to us or “embrace” the God who never left us. There is only one answer for hate, pain, anger, and even abuse. The answer is love! Love covers a multitude of sins! (1 Peter 4:8) We love God BECAUSE He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) We do learn from the horrible things that happen to us, but not because the pain was God’s design. We learn because we choose to trust God and lean on His Word. Lean not to your own understanding but in all of your ways, ACKNOWLEDGE Him, and He will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) If we give our hate to our abusers, we feed the evil in them. If we turn the blame on God, once again we feed the evil in our abusers and give them power. But, when we reach way down “in us” and pull from the center of our being, we find the IMAGE OF THE ONE WE WERE CREATED IN. (Genesis 1) We find the very God at whom we are offended. We find the very God that we questioned was there all the time. I overcame hate and pain by learning “the goodness of God” and “who I am in Christ!” (Ephesians, chapters 1- 5) I chose to believe His Word above my circumstances. After all, what else did I have left but FAITH! The more I learned about who He was and how He saw me PEACE CAME. Peace did not come because my “knowledge” increased, but because as I began to hear the Word of God and it became a work in me. Faith came by hearing the Word of God, (Romans 10:17) which proved that His Word is alive and sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing asunder the very joints, bone, and marrow! (Hebrews 4:12) O how I love Him! Pastor Sherry Damron
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