God Has a Plan for You
Saturday, July 8, 2023
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. Jer. 29:11, NKJV.
Muscles tensed and body rigid, she stood beside her little rollaway bed. She had done this many times before when frightening but familiar sounds penetrated her world. How does a child of 6 or 7 cope with a violent, drunken father whose rage is out of control?
Paralyzed by fear, she focused on Mother's safety and Father's rage, stiffening every muscle. Her father was beating her mother again. Previous episodes had caused Mother to isolate herself in her bedroom for several days. Beth would be alone. Would this be one of those nights that Father would approach her, drunk, violent, and naked?
Desperately she tried to hold her world together in a family whose behavior was irrational and out of control. Beth was everybody's victim. The youngest girl of 10 children, she was tortured and sexually abused by her father as well as siblings whose pain was equal to her own. Feeling totally alone, abandoned by family, she insulated herself from people and lived in a world of her own, trusting no one. The torture of her home life was a secret to be left at home.
In her late teens Beth met Bert. He was the gentle stability she needed and longed for. They married immediately after her high school graduation. While Bert was not without problems in his life, his were different than her own. He was an Adventist, and since Beth's only place of safety had been an open-door neighborhood church, she rapidly embraced Bert's religion. Weekly they attended services, but their interaction with other members was minimal.
Finally after 15 years of silent remembering and sadness, Beth opened up to her pastor's wife because they had built a trusting relationship. Beth chose to recover by learning about the emotional damage that cripples our emotional development. Given the proper knowledge and tools, and relying on God's power, she chose to grow up (see Eph. 4:14).
Today Beth is active in ministry to others damaged in similar ways. Bert has chosen to walk the road of recovery beside her, and as a result, their marriage has blossomed and become a benefit to others.
Praise God! No matter how desperate our circumstances or how damaged our beginnings, God has a plan for us to be whole.
Muscles tensed and body rigid, she stood beside her little rollaway bed. She had done this many times before when frightening but familiar sounds penetrated her world. How does a child of 6 or 7 cope with a violent, drunken father whose rage is out of control?
Paralyzed by fear, she focused on Mother's safety and Father's rage, stiffening every muscle. Her father was beating her mother again. Previous episodes had caused Mother to isolate herself in her bedroom for several days. Beth would be alone. Would this be one of those nights that Father would approach her, drunk, violent, and naked?
Desperately she tried to hold her world together in a family whose behavior was irrational and out of control. Beth was everybody's victim. The youngest girl of 10 children, she was tortured and sexually abused by her father as well as siblings whose pain was equal to her own. Feeling totally alone, abandoned by family, she insulated herself from people and lived in a world of her own, trusting no one. The torture of her home life was a secret to be left at home.
In her late teens Beth met Bert. He was the gentle stability she needed and longed for. They married immediately after her high school graduation. While Bert was not without problems in his life, his were different than her own. He was an Adventist, and since Beth's only place of safety had been an open-door neighborhood church, she rapidly embraced Bert's religion. Weekly they attended services, but their interaction with other members was minimal.
Finally after 15 years of silent remembering and sadness, Beth opened up to her pastor's wife because they had built a trusting relationship. Beth chose to recover by learning about the emotional damage that cripples our emotional development. Given the proper knowledge and tools, and relying on God's power, she chose to grow up (see Eph. 4:14).
Today Beth is active in ministry to others damaged in similar ways. Bert has chosen to walk the road of recovery beside her, and as a result, their marriage has blossomed and become a benefit to others.
Praise God! No matter how desperate our circumstances or how damaged our beginnings, God has a plan for us to be whole.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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