In our hurt and pain, many times it is hard to believe that God is real and that He cares about us. What we don’t understand and take into account, is the fact that He gives us free will. That means we can do whatever we want, and He will not usually stop us. However, it doesn’t mean that we get to choose the consequences for our choices. He does. Always.
Whether we have been abused in our childhood or just in life, we are still responsible for how we react to hurt and abuse from others. People are going to hurt us. Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
According to Strongs Concordance, the word offenses in this Scripture is the Greek word meaning; any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling block, occasion of stumbling).
None of us are above being hurt or causing hurt to others. The Bible tells us Satan deceives us. Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
He wants us to believe his lies. He wants us to hate God and others just as he does. But the Bible also tells us – Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
In other words, we can choose not to sin. We can choose not to hate and hurt others. Jesus showed us the way. 1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
I used a lot of Scripture in this article because we are to walk in God’s ways and His ways are found in His Word. It isn’t easy and it doesn’t feel “natural” to us. We can’t always stop what other people do, and I’m not saying we have to just lay down and let others walk all over us. While we can’t always stop it we are responsible for our own actions.
In saying all that, after living in this life for any length of time, we will endure hurt and we will also cause hurt to others. In our experiences of life, we many times, find ourselves not believing God is real or that He loves us. I know from my own experience, that it took me many years to learn that God is real and especially that He loves me. The abuse in my life started in my childhood. Nobody came to my rescue. It left me scarred and filled with hate and bitterness. I put up walls to “protect” myself. But those walls didn’t protect me. They kept me from being able to forgive so that I could know God’s love for me, and they also kept me from being able to love.
For many years I did not believe that God loved me and to be honest, that He even had the power to stop the abuse or defeat the devil. If you have ever felt this way, know that this is all a lie from Satan. As God has healed me, I have been able to know the Truth. Jesus does love me. I had to truly repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost (which I have). I’ve had to allow God to do a work in me in order to know that He is real and that His power is real. The New Testament shows the power and acts of not only Jesus, but ordinary men who through God’s power, did extra ordinary miracles, signs and wonders.
Let Jesus into your life today. Read His Word and let the truth permeate your very being. Disagree with the lies of Satan. You can know those lies by reading the Bible. If what you are believing, doesn’t line up with God’s Word, then it is a lie of the devil. Refuse to believe those lies. Disagree with them. Study the Bible and find out what God says. Speak that Word out loud, over and over and over, until it penetrates your very being. When you do this, you will soon find out God is real, and He loves you. You. He loves you.
God is Real
