Freedom from the Pain of Abuse

This world is hard. It’s filled with people full of hurt and pain. Five minutes watching the news or scrolling through social media and you’ll quickly be reminded of the brokenness of humanity and our deep need for a Savior. Many are dealing with the emotional pain of abuse or past hurts—pain that prevents us from enjoying the good life God has planned for us.

Isaiah 61 says the Lord came to heal the brokenhearted, to help those who are crushed and broken on the inside. He wants to give us joy instead of mourning, beauty for ashes, forgiveness instead of blame, and hope in place of our despair. 

Complete Restoration Can Be Yours

Whatever you’re going through, or whatever has happened in your past, I want you to know that God can restore your life and help you to fully recover from the emotional pain of abuse.

I can say this with certainty because I have been there myself. For years as a little girl, I was sexually abused by my father. When I finally left home, I thought it was all behind me. However, my experiences left me broken and wounded on the inside, desperately in need of healing.

Maybe you can relate to this. Maybe my story is also your story. You know what it’s like to live with the pain of abuse or a terrible, shameful secret that is eating you alive. That’s why I am sharing this. You need to know how good God is—that you can be completely healed and restored so you can live the life Jesus died for you to have.

God's Healing Is for You, Too!

Today, I can say that God has truly restored my life. In fact, He has taken what the enemy meant for harm and worked it out for my good (Genesis 50:20). It may seem impossible, but God’s truth (His Word) has set me free and has restored my soul. I am living proof that nothing is too hard for Him. And no matter what you’ve been through or how bad you hurt, there is hope!

God’s healing is for you, too. Whatever you’ve gone through or no matter how bad things are in your life right now, I want you to know that you can fully recover from the emotional pain of abuse if you will allow God to heal the broken places in your life.

The truth is, we all go through hard times and get hurt by someone or something. It’s amazing the things people can do to others, but it has helped me to understand that hurting people hurt people. And many times, when people abuse others, they are acting out of their own pain, so it goes on from generation to generation.

But, if you’ve been hurt in the past, you don’t have to spend your life being miserable, angry, bitter, resentful, or full of self-pity, hurting others. Through a personal relationship with Jesus, you can receive complete healing in your soul—your mind, will, and emotions. God can restore your life and heal you as if it never happened.

If you’ve ever dealt with the pain of rejection, abuse, or disappointment, you know it can have long-lasting consequences. Hurts from the past have a way of lingering and even affecting your future.

But I want you to know that you don’t have to live stuck in the pain of your past. You can make an exchange. You can trade in your pain for God’s promise.

You can have beauty instead of ashes.

Trading Your Ashes for God’s Beauty

The word “beauty” (or variations of the word) is used more than 70 times in the Bible, but one of my very favorite uses of the word is found in Isaiah 61:3.

This passage says Jesus came …to preach good tidings to the poor…to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…(Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV).

Thank God for His Word and His promise to heal the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, and set the captives free!

Pain doesn’t have the final say in your life—God does. And He can take any situation and turn it around for His good. You were never meant to live a life defined by words like ashes, mourning, and heaviness. Jesus died to give you a life of beauty, joy, and praise!

God can restore whatever you’ve lost. And He wants to bring forth something beautiful, even in the most unlikely places.