Bumps and bruises come with the territory when you’re a kid.
Although I’ve never broken a bone, I did have my share of scrapes and falls, resulting in thirty stitches on one occasion and bandages on numerous others. Sometimes, these injuries were repercussions of my foolishness, but a few were because family and friends didn’t understand the cause-and-effect issue. Silly choices where I, a little girl without a single athletic gene in her body, tried to be a gymnast, which imposed lingering neck and back problems.
When we fail to consider our actions’ consequences, danger comes along on the journey. But there are emotional and spiritual injuries that grab us as well. For me, abuse in multiple forms allowed depression and anxiety to set in, which only worsened when those issues were not examined and healed.
As a kid, I remember thinking that when I became an adult, those hurts wouldn’t matter. I discovered that being an adult didn’t change what had happened in the past. The sinful behaviors done to me and by me had long-reaching effects. Being a follower of Jesus now doesn’t change what occurred, but it does change my future.
At a time when my depression brought me to my lowest—and I wept in despair—a friend stepped in, put her arms around me, and said, “The Lord is telling me you need to hear these words: ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.’”
It was as if she threw me a lifeline as the dark waters swirled. The struggle to stay afloat continued, but finally, I had something to hang on to as I pursued the healing God supplied through Christian counseling.
Years later, I remember my friend speaking those words over me, and I see how the Lord has given back to me what I lost—my joy. Back on safe ground, I may still limp through this life, but I will dance in eternity.
Have you experienced God’s healing? It’s there for you. Reach out for it, and I’ll meet you at the dance.
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
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Anita van der Elst finds joy in creating with words, believing God gifted her with the desire to do so. Married to her best friend, Edward, since 1976, she is a proud mom of four adult children and Oma to two of the most delightful grandchildren ever. Other joys in her life include bringing beauty to Facebook through photos she takes on her iPhone, facilitating a small women’s group at church, and mentoring a few friends who also desire to write.