Calm in the Storm

Psalms 107:23-30 NKJ
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
Verse 29 Amplified29He hushes the storm to a calm and to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still.

This past week Cheri’s family had a lot all at once. Thirteen month old Logan had swallowed a penny and it lodged in his esophagus for 4 days. He to be taken to the ER and the doctors decided surgery was necessary to remove it. Then they were concerned that Logan might have a hole in his esophagus so that was another concern. In the meantime, Logan’s mommy, Daphene, was in labor and delivery giving birth to Logan’s new brother, Eli. Well, Eli was breech so there was more reason to worry with an emergency C-section. It seems like a lot for one family to have to endure at once but they did. Logan is home with his daddy Rick and grandma Cheri and Eli will be home soon with his mommy and the whole family.
It can make one wonder how a family can survive so much at one time. When we look at the scripture in Psalms 107:23-30, we can see who is in charge. The Lord God “commands and raises the stormy wind.: He is the One who is ultimately in charge in difficult times. He doesn’t cause all of our problems but He is still the One in charge. And He is the One who brings us out of our distress--our times of trouble, our problems and worries. Just as Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 8,
He calms the waves of the storms in our lives. Cheri’s family knew they could trust the doctors at our hospital but more importantly, they knew that they could trust Jesus to “guide them to their desired haven.”
When I look at the abuses of my childhood, I know that God didn’t make these men make the bad choices to sexually abuse my sisters and I. That was Satan’s doing. But it still happened and I had to deal with the results of that for a long time. While I didn’t feel I could trust my earthly father, I knew I could trust my Jesus. There have been many storms in my life. Jesus never promised that we would not have storms, He just promised that He would always be with us. Jesus has always been with me in the times of high winds and waves and in the depths of my personal seas. Jesus has calmed the waves for me and has led me to my desired haven. Look to Him and He will lead you also to your desired haven.

Unconditional Love

Jesus loves us unconditionally. That means that we don't have to do anything to earn his love. We can't be good enough or do enough good stuff or study the Bible enough or give enough money to the church for Jesus to love us. God loves us just because He loves us. The Bible tells us "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." – 1 John 4:9-11 Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven with Him.

Ok, so how does that tie in to child abuse? There are basically 4 types of abuse -- physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. Which is the worst type of abuse? It’s the on that YOU are going through! Statistics tell us that “almost five children die everyday as a result of child abuse. Bell County (right here where we live) ranks fifth in the state of Texas for deaths from child abuse. Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 was 104 billion dollars.(www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics) While the deaths from child abuse are tragic, abuse has a profound effect on the victims of abuse even after they become adults. 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. Adults who were abused as children suffer from eating disorders, low self-esteem, a sense of guilt, feelings of shame, addictions, nightmares, flashbacks, even PTSD, and so much more.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior at Vacation Bible School when I was 7 years old. My mother told me I was too young to understand what I was doing and didn’t allow me to be baptized until I was 11 years old. Because of that, I had some confusion about it for a time but I have no doubt in my mind now that I asked Jesus into my heart at age 7. Jesus was always with me after that. He put many adults in my childhood who knew Him and loved Him enough to pick me up for church on Sundays when no one else in the house attended church. There were adults who helped me make it to church camp in the summers. Christ always had adults around me to help me see Christ’s love. They didn’t know what was going on in my home but they knew that Jesus wanted them to show me His love. I could name so many people, like Mr. and Mrs. Roy Johnson (no relation). Mr. and Mrs. Johnson picked me up for Sunday School and worship service every Sunday. I don’t remember how long they continued to pick me up. It just seems that they were always there on Sunday morning. I got to go to a class of kids my age, many of them I knew from school. Then I got to go into the church for a worship service. At the end of that I knew the Johnsons would take me back home, where I belonged, back to the abusers. I wouldn’t have wanted them to do anything else. Jesus Christ was using these people and others like them throughout most of my life to show and to teach me about what unconditional love was all about.

I was so lucky, also, that He gave me the most wonderful man in the world to be my husband. David loved me no matter what I did. I know that most women who have been abused have not been as lucky as I have been to marry a man who truely understands what unconditional love is. Most women have a tendancy to marry a man like their father  and in the case of my 2 sisters, and many others, those were abusive men. When we turn our lives over to Jesus, He doesn't promise us a rose garden. We will still have problems in our life. He just promises that He will always be with us and will continue to love us, no matter what. Jesus Christ is the only way to really experience unconditional love here on earth. He will love you for who you are, not for what you can do or for what you will become.

Release from captivity

There are so many forms of captivity in this world. Usually when we think about captivity in a church setting, we think of the Israelites being held captive in Egypt or Babylon. Something along that line. We might also think of slavery in any of its many forms, like prior to the Civil War in our own country or we might see programs on TV about human trafficking or forms of captivity in third world countries. We don’t often think about the captivity that some of us feel inside who we are. Captivity that may have come because of a childhood of abuse.

Actually, a childhood of abuse teaches a person many things. It teaches you that the people who are supposed to love you can’t be trusted. It teaches you that there are very few safe places in the world. In fact, the only safe places are the places that no one else knows about-- the hidden, secret places. It teaches you that there is a lot of pain in the world. It teaches you that if you shut up, be quiet and don’t cause any problems that maybe, just maybe, you might not be noticed. If you’re not noticed, maybe they will forget about you and you won’t be hurt again.

I was sexually abused from the time I was 6 years old until after I was 15. The abuse occurred for about 9 years. The captivity lasted for over 40 years. The first abuse was by a family friend we called Uncle Charlie and, later by my own father. I got my drivers license when I was 15. I had an old 1954 Ford station wagon that I called Granny Goodwitch. (that was from a commercial that was popular at the time) With Granny Goodwitch I had some freedom. Mother was very active in volunteer work and was gone at least one evening a week and often on weekends. I learned how to always have school or church activities that I drove myself to when she wasn’t home. If I was home with just Daddy, then he would take me to his bed. I don’t know where my brothers and sisters were during this time (there were 6 of us) but I learned how to volunteer for activities early.

God has had His plans for each one of us from before time began. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Sometimes when we’re going through the problems, it’s hard to see that God really does have a plan for us. You think, “how could a loving God have planned for any kind of child abuse?” God doesn’t plan that. He gives each person the freedom to make his own choices. A few verses further He tells us about more of his plan when He says “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity.” “and I will bring you back from your captivity.” I was held captive for so many years by my memories, self doubts and negative thoughts. It took a long time for me to allow Jesus to release me from my captivity. Come back next week, and I will share with you about how Jesus and the Christians that He put in my life helped to teach me about unconditional love and how that unconditional love truely released me from my captivity.