Tonight I had a talk on the phone with one of my oldest friends. This dear friend has been through a tremendous amount of trials in her life...ones that if I'd had to endure I'm not sure I could have handled it. I've dealt with my own share of trials....lost pregnancies, abandonment, rejection, divorce, rape, sexual abuse, spousal abuse (verbal, physical, mental, financial), homelessness, drug addiction....Wow, once I list them I see just how much I have personally gone through!
And so is EVERYONE who puts their faith in Christ. What truly saddens me about my dear friend that I spoke to tonight is that she has lost her faith after all that she has been through. There were times when I doubted my faith along the way....times that I ran as far from God as I could because I didn't think He was there for me with everything I'd faced. But I was WRONG!
When the time came that I finally hit rock bottom (which I did a FEW times before surrendering), I noticed that the ONLY person who was there to pick me up and heal all that was broken in me. I find now, that after fully surrendering to Him, I can talk about my experiences without feeling the pain and anger about them that I once felt. I can talk about how God has healed my soul, and made me whole again. My life is still FAR from perfect, but it is so much better since I've learned to give it all to Him every day.
This dear friend of mine has lost her faith in God, others and herself because of the difficult things that she's gone through. She turned to God several times, and has given up on organized religion, because of people who have called themselves Christians and have fallen short of the mark. My dear friend expected the leaders of the churches she attended to give her the things that she needed, and when they proved to be human, as indeed they are, she gave up on God.
There has always been only ONE perfect person to ever walk this earth, and He CAN give you the strength, healing and support you will always need. His name is Jesus!
The third musketeer in our group of friends....my girlfriend, our dear friend, and I....has been missing for several years and is also tormented by the horrific things he experienced in life. After enduring several traumas he turned to drugs, and he has never been the same. Sadly, I feel partly to blame for this dear friend's addiction, because he and I used heavily together back in the day, but I chose to enter recovery and change my life. He chose to remain in his addiction and refused to give up his pain to the only one who can truly heal our hearts. He also chose to rebel against Jesus and claim that He didn't care about him or He wouldn't have allowed him to go through all that he has.
This is the greatest lie that the enemy can get us to believe. I have chosen to have a different philosophy in life. I have chosen to turn to the one who rescued me and give Him all my imperfections, and all my pain. The Word of God says in James 1:2-5...I prefer the Amplified translation, as it puts it into such great context...
"Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing."
I am truly grateful that I've been changed from the inside out by His great love. For a long time I was just as bitter and angry as my friends. It makes me sad to see people resort to a life of sadness and misery, when all they have to do is surrender and allow Him to take away their pain. I hope that anyone who is suffering from the intense pain of life's scars will be able to find peace as I have someday. I'm grateful now that Jesus has healed the wounds of my past, but left the scars behind so I will never forget. In closing I'd like to share this song with you, and I hope it touches your heart as it has mine.
I pray for you every day, my friends. May God's peace be given to you through the one and only healer of all wounds....Jesus Christ!
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