Come to Me         

My shattered heart,

Oh my shattered heart,

Do you see the pieces lying there?

Scattered on the chair, blood red,

They glisten with the sound of doom.

Does no one care? Does no one

even see my shattered heart?

                          ~

Come to me you wounded

and broken and I will bear you up

on my shoulder like a little lamb..

     ~

The night is dark the pain

is fierce, my cries unheard

for they pierce not the night

but my own broken heart..

Oh, he is here and death

and fear and pieces of my

soul are mingled on the chair.

                      _

Come to me you wounded

and broken and I will bear you up

on my shoulder like a little lamb.

                             ~

 The years have passed

Where did they go?  I have

forgot-and yet, I know

Ignorance is not bliss and so

Come Shepherd come

and take me out of this..

                   ~

Come to me you wounded

and broken and I will bear you up

on my shoulder like a little lamb.

 

 

 

 

 

Redeeming Our Treasures One Day at a Time

Redemption is an interesting word, a word with multiple meanings.  Some of the meanings listed in Merriam Webster include: to buy back, to free from captivity by means of ransom, to free from distress or harms, to atone for or to offset the bad effect. 

 

From these definitions it is clear that redemption is costly. What will it cost the survivor who is set on “Redeeming Our Treasures?”  It will demand a high price. It will take a toll on our time, our emotions, and our soul.  We will revisit, as an adult, the traumas that victimized us as a child.  We will re-experience some of the pain, but we will re-view that experience with the eyes of an adult–a child grown up– a child grown wiser. It is then that we will discern that the shame we bear is not our own, and we will know that our sorrow is justified.  We will gain the courage to face our losses and to grieve them.  Only then will be be positioned for growth, for healing, and for maturity.

 

One decision at a time, one moment at a time, one victory at a time.

 

Redemption of our treasures will not happen instantly, but it will begin with a decision.  It will begin when I decide that I must possess the gifts that my Creator bestowed upon me when he sent me into this world–love and trust, innocence, and confidence.  Our treasures will not be the naive treasures of a child–no, they have been through too much to return to that state. They are the rock solid, tried and tested virtues of a person who has been through Hades and lived to tell about it.  They will be the foundation upon which the survivor stands to tell her story to the world.  Not a sordid acknowledgement of victimization and betrayal–though both of those elements may be present in it–but a story of redemption.  A story of life reclaimed, of joy restored, of trembling stilled and love unbounded.

 

This is the quest to which we are called.  If we are a survivor of physical, psychological, sexual or verbal abuse, of neglect and/or abandonment, then we are made of metal that has been tried in the fire–and we need to discard the garments of our captivity and stand among the heroes of the faith–heroes who overcame every obstacle that blocked the pathway of their potential.  We are no longer victims–we are victors and we will not be restrained!  We will pursue the redemption of our treasures with fierce determination.  We will become better, and not bitter.  Believers and not be-littlers.  Containers of God’s Glory and not carriers of contempt.  By the Grace of God we will redeem our treasures, one day at a time.

 

 

Led by author Linda Settles, M.A., Beyond Abuse is a ministry to help the hurting come out of bondage and set souls free. 

Those of us who have experienced abuse, bondage, abandonment, or betrayal in any from have longed for freedom. We have struggled with thoughts and feelings that ravaged our soul and drained our energy.  We have sensed the limitations imposed upon our joy, ambitions, and our relationships because of the wounding that binds us to a painful past—a past that often casts its shadow over our present and impacts our future as well.

We are the souls that long to be set free. Set free, first and foremost, from spiritual death. Eternal life is the gift of God, freely offered to those who belive that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He came to die so that we might be saved, and that He rose from the dead and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords

You may ask: If we have been set free from death, and come into the family of God, are we not finished with this business of being “unbound?”

 No. I say that we are not. We are all as Lazarus was when Jesus raised him from the dead (John 11). We are alive, but “bound hand and foot with grave cloths.” The trappings of our past, our geneology, our misconceptions, and our distorted world-view—perceptions muddied by the waters of our life on this planet, have bound us from within. We need to be set free from the traditions of man and the expectations of others. The struggle to serve God is the day-to-day battle against the flesh—our pride, our self-protective mode of living, our lusts, our fears and our hurts. We must be freed of these things if we would live a life of unbounded joy as Christ intends us to do. 

Where can we go to rid ourselves of these bonds? We can go to the church, and it is there that we find freedom, fellowship, and accountability. We find worship, teaching, and opportunities to serve. All these things, and myriad other offerings abound within the structure that represents Christ’s body on earth.  However, many of us have also found, at times, the embodiment of evil in that holy place—evil that we know to be residing in our own hearts as well, the same pride, fears, lusts, hurts and selfishness that wars against the Life of Christ in our own soul.

We can go to friends, family, and counselors, and sometimes we will find wisdom, encouragement, and relief for the dis-ease that prevails within us. All too often, however, we find reflections of ourselves, other flawed human beings whose counsel is tinged by the color of his or her own “besetting sins,” those trappings of the flesh with which they struggle, or to which they have submitted themselves in times past.

The question, then is not where can we go—but to whom. In Christ alone will we find freedom to rise above the pain of our past and the bonds that are present within us. We should go to the church for fellowship and counsel, we should confide in trustworthy friends and relatives, but only so far as they point us to Christ– the One true source of wisdom, comfort, and healing.  The Bondage-Breaker is Christ alone, and no other. 

What does seeking Him look like in our day-to-day experience? It is taking the time and effort to process all knowledge, experiences, feelings, and doubts that come our way. It is taking the advice of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his son in the faith: “Study to show yourself approved unto God a workman that needs not be ashamed.”

Is there work involved in casting off the nasty cloths of our entombment–our despair, addiction, abuse, or rebellion? Of course, there is. While we cannot earn salvation by the work that we perform, we also cannot experience freedom from bondage without putting forth the effort to work through the lies we have believed and destructive patterns of living and relating to others that we have developed in the past.

We will claim our freedom by putting one foot in front of the other, gaining strength and balance with every step, and  becoming unbounded believers.