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Peace of Mind - November 30, 2020 (Part 2)

11/30/2020

Focus Scripture: Isaiah 41: 8 - 14, AMP

“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 41: 14, AMP).

Bible Tip: Today’s anchor Scripture is taken from the prophetic book of Isaiah. Isaiah writes, as one who hears directly from God, to warn the ancient Israelites of God’s coming judgement because of their unfaithfulness to Him and to encourage them to repentance. Our anchor Scripture moves on from the themes of impending judgment and repentance to highlight a new theme-hope. Hope that Israel, chosen and beloved by God, will in His strength and with His help be restored to its intended post of light to the nations for its good and God’s glory. That Israel will, with God’s mighty hand, woo the nations unto the true worship of the living God. Watch the Bible Project video explaining the genre of prophetic literature in the Bible and answer this question: Why is it appropriate for us to appropriate the promises of Isaiah 41 today?

Shame is a thief. It emerges from Hell’s pit with a jealous desire for what you have been gifted. It seeks to steal your voice. The voice God gave you to declare His praises. The voice God gave you to speak aloud the things He’s entrusted to you in secret. The voice God gave you to declare to the nations, “God saves!” The voice that God gave you to invite light into dark places. It comes to steal.

It carries out its ambush with such stealth we scarce recognize it. After all, our lips still move and sound still bellows from our mouths. We speak so often, it would be an easier task to count the moments of silence. But, what of the nature of the sound? Are our voices carriers of good news or laden with skepticism? Are our voices a medium for truth or instruments that obscure the truth? It happens so subtly, we can go our whole lives and miss it.

Shame needs to steal our voices in order to ensure its survival because it can only thrive in the dark. And our voices were purposed, like all our being, to be carriers of God’s light. Our voices are purposed to be instruments of God’s light, exposing the misdeeds of darkness and the worthiness of a life lived under the rule of Jesus Christ. So shame works to corrupt God’s intention for our voices. It works to make them all clang and no power. All clang and no light.

And shame’s great accomplice is false guilt. The belief that you’ve done something wrong-perhaps, something unforgivable. The blackness of false guilt is thick and seemingly perpetual. But, for what appears to be eternal, we have the help of He who is eternal. We have the help of Jesus Christ. He is God’s strong arm. And it His light that is so luminous that it will, upon His return, put the sun, moon and stars out of business. We have this Jesus to chase away the darkness of false guilt and its companion, shame.

Beloved, struggling with the weight of what has been done to you:

It was not your fault.
You have nothing of which to be ashamed.
You are not alone. 1 in 4 women is a victim of domestic violence (https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS)

End the silence. Release your voice to speak the truth, no matter how hard. Here are some tips to help you reclaim your voice and enter the healing God desires for you:

Pray for God to bring someone you can share your story with into your life. This person should be:

Trustworthy. You should be confident that s/he will keep your confidence.
Committed to your deliverance and recovery. S/he should have a deep conviction that abuse is unacceptable, no matter the context, and desire your liberty and recovery.
Experienced with domestic violence abuse, through the field of counseling or pastoral care, or as an overcomer.

Trust that God is with you during this season and lean on Him to direct you as to what to share and when. (Proverbs 3: 5 - 6 and Isaiah 41: 8 - 14).

Recovery is possible. You can enter into the fullness of life Jesus offers and be more than a conqueror:

Enter into the song of one who has experienced the sweet victory in Jesus that awaits you. God is not a respecter of persons and He will do it for you too: (Romans 2:11).

Additional Resources

Download the resource below, provided by Hope for the Heart, filled with practical encouragement and grace filled words for tackling the issue of domestic violence.