Heartache is about to strike the
house of King David. A man after God’s
own heart, David is not immune to the repercussions of sin. For David’s sons, the sins of the father have
not gone unnoticed. After striking
Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, in battle, the Lord has brought this murderous sin
to David’s attention. Full of repentance
and grief, David writes one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Bible, Psalm
51, “Wash me clean and I will be whiter than snow.”
David’s heart may have been repentant, but if
the lessons of God’s wrath and judgment are not taught to the children, the
same sinful, repetitious patterns may continue.
A good example is Adam, Eve and Cain.
Adam and Eve were subject to the punish and just judgment of God, but
why would they not express these convictions and repentant hearts to their son
Cain? He was a prideful, arrogant and a jealous boy. Cain was disrespectful for we can see his
flippant attitude when responding to the Lord’s question, “Where is your
brother Abel?” Cain responds, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper or
guardian?”(Genesis 3:9)
Witnessing his father’s actions of “taking
what he wants”, Amnon, David’s eldest son burns for his half sister Tamar. So consumed with his desire and total lack of
self-control, Tamar torments his thoughts daily and is noticed by a “good
friend” Jonadab. “Why are you, the
king’s son, so miserable every morning? Won’t you tell me?”
Amnon replied, “I’m in love with Tamar, my
brother Absalom’s sister.” (2 Samuel
13:4). Amnon is confused. Love and infatuation or lust are two
completely different emotions for after Amnon rapes Tamar, he casts her aside
as is filled with hatred (2 Samuel 13:15).
Under the pretense of illness, Amnon requests her presence to make him “feel
better”. The servant and sweet sister she was, “took dough, kneaded it, made
cakes in his presence, and baked them.” The Lord gives this young man time to
think about what he is going to do. This
preparation and baking take time, but instead of a conviction growing in
Amnon’s heart, he feels sin crouching at his door. Lust, sexual arousal and desire mixed to form
a deadly reaction.
God spoke to Cain about his own
heart filled with jealousy, hatred and revenge, “If you do what is right, won’t
you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master
it.” (Genesis 4:7). With the acceptance of Christ as our Lord and
Savior, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians the fruit, actions, guidance
and counsel we have with the Holy Spirit as “our master”, “But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things
there is no law. Now those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow
the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25).
Many women have the pain, shame, humiliation
and embarrassment of rape. God’s reaction
and command for rape is undeniable, “If the man encounters the engaged woman in
the open country, and he seizes and rapes her, only the man who raped her must
die.” (Deuteronomy 22:25). God does not cast the victim aside. Our Lord
also does not allow the rapist to walk free and unpunished. Your question may be, “Why does God allow
this to happen?”
In my first One a Day book, I write
about the “Afflicted, Battered and
Bruised.” This is an excerpt from that chapter, “There are numerous
biblical accounts of women who were afflicted, used, enslaved, hurt, rebuked,
mistreated and raped. I’ve read these accounts and thought to myself, “Why
Lord? I do not understand.” I have family members and friends who were either
raped, molested by trusted adults, abused sexually, physically assaulted by
boyfriends, verbally abused, neglected and rejected by husbands. I’ve listened, cried, loved and prayed for
those closest to me. The hurt is real,
so painful there are no words to describe or are spoken. Just tears, just anguish, just pain from a
broken heart and spirit.
“I will
never leave you nor forsake you.” I wonder if the woman raped from dusk till
dawn had ever heard that verse. I wonder if the little girl given to men for
their depraved pleasure has heard of the Living God’s promise. Has the
molested, beaten and neglected know that Jesus Christ loves them and will never
leave them? You may ask where is God? Where does the healing begin? Why is this
happening to me?
My sweet
sister in Christ, whose heart is so tender, so broken, I understand the very
mention of memories, a look, touch, smell can send a quick flinch or chill, and
the healing for unanswered questions or forgiveness seems unattainable or out
of reach. But, there is hope in Jesus
Christ. I pray you do not believe for
one second the selfish, depraved and sinful mind of man is the portrait of
God. I pray you do not believe the evil
in the world is an exact replica of God.
That is a lie. If one’s pain can bring ten, hundreds, thousands or even
millions to a life of healing, a relationship with Christ and Heaven’s door
open for them, then what the enemy uses for harm, God uses for good.
The woman raped to
death in the book of Judges 19 is an
example of the same rape existing today in sex trafficking and brothels around
the world. Where in the mind does one
man think he can take another and use them for his sick pleasure, taking the
innocent from a small child, manipulating them into sexual abuse and beating
them into submission and fear? The enemy
has tried to destroy the heart and spirit of a woman since the Garden of
Eden. Eve, innocent and manipulated,
Satan will stop at nothing to destroy what God’s deems as beautiful. Why has the devil set out on a destructive
rampage to kill, destroy and shame women since the beginning? Why would he hate
us so much?
Woman was
the final creation of God. I once heard
John and Stacey Elderidge explain it as woman was created not as an
afterthought, but as a final crowning of God’s masterpiece. I believe she is beautiful, giving life to
God’s children and able to give man such pleasure. She is warm, soft, enticing and has a heart
to love. Satan was considered the most
beautiful angel, but when God made woman, He trumped this prideful angel with a
soft curves, a gentle spirit, a miraculous life giving womb and the desire of
her husband. Satan does not hold a
candle to a woman of God; her beauty has surpassed his and the devil will hold
at nothing to destroy this innocent and beauty God created and formed in the
womb.
To hold the
memories, to hate, to let your life succumb to bitterness, and cursing God
allows the enemy to stick the final dagger in for his victory and succession in
your life and family’s. But there is One
who understands your pain. One who
suffered the hurt of rejection, abuse, beating and suffocation for all
mankind. He was rejected by His people;
He was bruised for our transgressions, whipped for all to see (Isaiah 53). He suffered as no other person has ever
suffered. Christ came down, in the form
of a man, and suffered to understand our pain, hurt, tears and shame. He knows how you feel.
Jesus suffered the cat of nine tails
ripping apart His flesh, but uttered no word. He was beaten and mocked for
another’s pleasure. He was rejected,
cursed, and hung an excruciating death on the cross, not for man’s pleasure,
but to save man’s soul. He understands
physical pain. Christ understands your
rejection, abandonment, and asked the same question, “My God, why have you
forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus
experienced something no one else has ever, total separation from God. Christ, selflessly, suffered. The Living God, where no other religion can
claim, came down to this sinful earth, and walked to understand how you
feel. Suffered to understand the human
heart, pain and hurt Satan attempts to destroy us with. Yes, Jesus of Nazareth knows how you feel.”
The Lord
gave me those words to write for the women who have experienced such hardship,
humility, shame and discard. Our came to
the “in-valids”, the socially discarded, the ones who need a doctor to love
them, care for them and restore them.
God is our vindicator, our restoration, our reviver and our everything. Allow him to restore what has been
broken. Allow him to repair the pain and
shame you have experienced at the hands of someone else. Allow him to court and woo you gently taking
the pain and suffering, memories and nightmares, using those tears for good.
Amnon did
not get away with Tamar’s rape. Sadly,
David’s lack of punishment, his lack of teaching and training his children and
reminding them of God’s judgment brings more heartache. Absalom, filled with rage and hatred toward
his brother, avenges Tamar’s honor and kills Amnon. This reminds me of stories I have heard or
watched on the news of someone’s daughter raped and the father, filled with
hatred revenge, kills the rapist. Now, he himself is in jail, leaving the
family with a harmed daughter and no father.
We can not take justice into our own hands.
Woman, we
need to lay this at the alter. We need
to cast our care upon the cross and believe, hope and pray. Pray for the restoration of our minds and
spirit. Pray for the forgiveness only
the Lord can give and pray for the soul of the rapist used by Satan to kill,
steal and destroy (John 10:10).
Let us Pray and CONFESS
the Word of God:
Father,
I come to
you in Jesus name and give my heart to you.
I am hurt and broken. I feel no
one understands; I feel isolated and alone.
I feel I am in a dark pit of anger and bitterness (Psalm 40). I want out! I
know you make all things clean (John
15:3). I know you give beauty for
ashes, to bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for the captives,
release form darkness, the oil of gladness instead of mourning (Isaiah 61:1-3). I know you can turn what the enemy has tried
to destroy and use it for good (Genesis
50:20) I believe my testimony, the
test that I have walked and suffered through, will glorify you. I pray for the peace that surpasses
understanding (Philippians 4:7). I pray I can diminish and you increase with
the portion you have given me to enhance your kingdom (John 27-30). I pray I know
you and the power of your resurrection.
I know many have doubted including John the Baptist when locked and thrown
in prison for fulfilling your plan, asking “Are you the Messiah?” (Luke 7:20). If I have been a Christian and this tragedy
has happened to me, I pray I never curse you and fall into the trap of walking
away from my faith (Job 2:9-10)
I pray I am
filled with the fruits of the spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). I pray I
am diligent in studying your word, memorizing scripture for when the enemy
comes to steal kill and destroy, I use the Word of God, get behind me Satan,
for you are concerned with the things of this world and I am concerned with the
things from above (John 10:10, Matthew
16:23) Help me to bless those who have hurt me. Forgive those who used me, and love those who
have rejected me (Ephesians 4:19, 5:1). Forgive them Lord for they do not know what
they are doing (Luke 23:34). As it is written, I believe I have all
spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Ephesians
1:3), and I believe I am an adopted daughter of Christ (Ephesians 1:5-6). A princess of the Most High, clean and
restored, loved and revered as a woman of God.
I pray I am
unashamed of the Gospel and plant this seed for you (Ephesians 6:19). I pray I
can help bring healing to those who have suffered as I have suffered. May I be a blessing in the church, using my
gifts and talents for your glory (Ephesians
3:20-21). I pray you increase my
faith and I abound more and more in love.
I pray to be a prisoner of Christ and ambassador in chains for you (Ephesians 6:20). I know whether I am
abasing or abounding, you have given me all strength for all situations (Philippians 4:11-13).
Thank you
for dying on the cross. Thank you for
knowing exactly how I feel, my hurt, my shame, my pain and my suffering. Thank you for giving me an example to
follow. Thank you for your precious love
that has carried me through painful memories, fearful dreams or nightmares,
heal my heart, renew my mind in Christ Jesus (Romans 12:2). I am a new
creature in Christ; the old had passed away including my past. I press on toward the goal and prize awaiting
me (Philippians 3:13-14). I will continue to prepare my heart and mind
for action (1 Peter 1:13). I pray to encourage others along through my
own healing process. If I backslide, push me forward. If I fall down again in sadness, why me and
painful memories, life me up to stand firm with the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), preparing my mind
daily with the Armor of the Lord.
Thank you
for turning evil into good and I am confident the plan and purpose you have for
me will be completed in the end (Philippians
1:6). I believe my life has purpose,
a plan set for me, not for evil, but good (Jeremiah
1:5). I believe this is my season, a
time I can never get back, help me to use this time wisely, growing daily in
the Lord with spiritual meat, lacking no good thing (James 1:4). If I am faced
with my past, if I am faced with the very ones who painful hurt me, help me to
love them as you love them. Show me this
mystery, filled with the Holy Spirit to love them as Christ loved the church (Colossians 1:27).
Praise be
to God the Father of Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thank you for your Word and the women in the
bible I can learn from. In the name of
Jesus of Nazareth I pray, Amen.
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