Evil is when Satan touches the heart of man with the intention of destroying the purposes of God. He came to disrupt God's plan for us, to do away with our true self. His strategy was to wound our heart as early as possible.
Satan's subtle influence in our lives hinders us in very common ways, such as feelings and thoughts of fear, rejection, shame, unworthiness, not belonging, and self-hatred.
When we are hurt, we conclude that the key to being accepted is to be different than we are. The false self, the mask, is our plan to save ourself from pain. But underneath the mask is the hurt that we've tried to cover and a constant fear of being exposed.
Most of us have childhood experiences that told us we didn't measure up in some way. Satan reinforces the lies and hurts repeatedly until we accept them as true.
People go through life afraid that it is true that they are somehow inferior and unworthy. They are deperately afraid that other people will find this out.
As I have been involved with people in areas of healing and deliverance, it always surprises me how extremely afraid most people are of facing and exposing the areas of woundedness in their hearts, not understanding that confronting these lies is the key to their freedom and healing.
From the moment the enemy hurt you, God has had your restoration in His heart.
"For THIS REASON the Son of God was manifested, that he might DESTROY the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8
The first step to being free of this darkness is to come out of hiding. Invite Jesus into the broken and unhealed places of your heart. Let God fill your heart with light until there are no more places that are blocked or hidden.
Bringing things out in the open causes them to lose their grip on us. It is necessary to come out from hiding in order to let the healing begin.
Your true self is the person God had in his thoughts when he created you. It is who you are before God - your worth, your value, what the Father sees in you.
If you want your wounds healed, if you want to find your true self, you are going to have to let your mask down, become vulnerable, and face your fears head on.
I promise that you will find that the boogeyman was really a lie.
3 comments:
Grace,
Are you reading my mail? This is what I have spent the last year walking through. I was going to post a long comment, but thought better of it. Instead, I am going to link to this on my blog, if that's alright, and post my responses there.
I am living proof, and I wish to testify to this: "If you want your wounds healed, if you want to find your true self, you are going to have to let your mask down, become vulnerable, and face your fears head on."
Thank you, Grace, for putting it so well.
Grace,
Not only are you an excellent writer, but your way of wording things is like water for thirsty souls, and your pastoral honesty shines through.
I'm glad we "met"!
fr'nklin,
That was my favorite aspect of Eldredge's writing, his understanding of woundedness. I'm glad you are experiencing vulnerability in your group.
lily,
Sure you can link. I pray that God will continue to hold you close as you walk through this.
robby,
thanks! I'm glad we met too. If you and wendy are ever in the middle-of-nowhere, look me up. :)
angela,
I can certainly relate to your post. What you are feeling is really normal.
First, I don't think you should feel pressured to be healed according to someone else's expectations. If you need time to pull back, you should give yourself permission to do so.
Your family is your highest priority anyway. But for them and yourself, I hope that you are able to allow God to work on the places in your heart that hurt.
Prior to the abuse, I had worked through many of my insecurities and fears, and I was living in a great deal of freedom and trust.
Our spiritual abuse left me with messages that said - I was a problem, I was of no value, and I didn't belong. My spiritual battle since then has been in choosing whether or not to believe them.
Since then, I have had to learn a whole new level of healing. There is so much emotional garbage to have to deal with, and to be honest, it just stinks.
There are no shortcuts to healing from spiritual abuse. The only way through it, is through it. However, the intensity of the pain does lessen over time.
One thing that has been helpful to me is the forum at www.spiritualabuse.com. It helped to be understood by others who have experienced the same thing. At times it is overwhelming hearing other stories of abuse, so be careful, it isn't for everyone.
If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. My e-mail is katiejen2@yahoo.com.
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