Yesterday morning, as I was reading through all the comments on this post, I ran across some words that just broke my heart:
“Within the last few weeks I have even picked out the church I want to visit and now ya’ll are telling me God knew this [abuse] was going to happen to me as a child??? That it was God’s plan for it to happen?? That God allowed it to happen?? How do I not get mad at God all over again?? Sorry if this is too long. But please someone explain to me how not to hate God. I mean if God allowed this to happen to your kid would you just praise God and say he had a reason for it?”
I spent the better part of the morning thinking and praying about the person who wrote those words, wishing there was something I could say or do to demonstrate the grace and love of Christ. Words seemed terribly inadequate in light of so much pain.
Then I read Clemntine’s reply, one of the most touching, eloquent posts I’ve read in awhile.
Please know in advance, especially given the very personal nature of this topic, that I asked permission to put up this link. Clemntine graciously agreed…in fact, in an email today she said this: “If somehow my being transparent about where I’ve been encourages someone else to seek a relationship with Christ – truly, it is a small price to pay.”
I hope you’ll read her post.
It’s God’s grace in action.
No doubt about it.
Amazing! That’s the only word I can seem to muster up today…sniff…
Even though Mouse’s potential healing isn’t what the original post concerned, wouldn’t it be a beautiful gift that could have only been orchestrated by God…
Of course God is sovereign. Of course God know what is is going to happen to us every moment of our lives. But God does not cause bad things to happen to us. Bad things happen to us because there is sin in this world. Paul prayed to God to remove his affliction. God response was that His grace is sufficient to thee. That is what we need to concentrate on. No matter our circumstances, not matter our afflictions, His grace is sufficient for thee. We are to be content in whatever situation we are in. Whether we are rich, poor, healthy, or sick – it doesn’t matter. It’s what is in our hearts that matters. It makes my heart ache that people suffer – it makes my heart ache even more that people believe that God caused them to suffer. What makes my heart happy is that through Christ a person’s heart can be happy and at peace, despite their suffering.
Thank you for sharing her post with everyone. I have been through some pretty tough times myself (painful divorce and no financial support from the ex – no kids with him,thank goodness), but not as nearly tragic and heartbreaking as Clementine and mouse. When I was going through my problems, I had to have faith and believe there was a reason for it. The time you need to have faith the most is absolutely the time when you are tested the most. You know what, I got my own back and then some. I am re married to a great generous man and all I lost was returned to me 100 fold. Literally.
Thank you Boomama!
Clemntine’s post is so moving and full of the love of God. Thank you for sharing. Gotta love Boomama! Where else can you have a mature, spiritual discussion and get a great casserole recipe?
Isn’t it wonderful to see God at work? Thanks for being open to being used!
God is definitely at work among us.
I read an eloquent post on another blog yesterday by a man. He replied that “God doesn’t cause all things to happen, but it’s His grace can make something out of anything.” I thought it profound.
People are much more fragile…and much stronger than we think. That’s my own. Thanks for sharing this. Truly moving.
Oh, that was a hard one to read. Praise the Lord for people who are willing to share their darkest moments, to brighten somebody else’s. And thanks to you for getting her story out.
BooMama-
We never know how we can reach others for Christ. Thanks for YOUR post that started it all- God is Good.:>))
Wow. No words. Thanks for sharing.
thanks for sharing clementine’s post. switch out the details a little and my story is not all that different. i’m just no good at putting stuff into words. :)
I’m off to read it now.
OMGosh. I was crying reading that post. The things she went through were so awful. She is so strong to write about them to help someone else in need. I wish I was that strong.
Thank you for opening yourself up to all the ways God CAN and DOES use you in the lives of “strangers this side of heaven.”
I didn’t read the whole thread that started this, but I wanted to address this quote: “I mean if God allowed this to happen to your kid would you just praise God and say he had a reason for it?”
God did allow this to happen in my family. It was my child. She was 6 at the time. And her abuser was the person I trusted most in the world. I can tell you my reaction, and it wasn’t to immediately praise God. I was angry, angry on so many levels, at so many people. The anger came and went, but mostly stayed. I cried a LOT. I wondered why. Why didn’t I see it? Why didn’t she tell me? Why her? Why me? Some days the hurt was so big it was crushing. But as time went on, I began to see God’s fingerprints on the situation. God knew what was going on, He gave the abuser a chance to stop and make things right, He put me and my family in the place where we needed to be to get the help we would need, and then He stepped in to rescue my daughter. Eventually, I got to the point where I saw that I had to choose to praise God. It’s a choice we make. You know it’s pretty hard to be depressed when you are thanking and praising God! At least, it was for me. I would have been crushed under the weight of all that happened if it weren’t for occasionally being able to thank God anyway. And when you do that, you find things to be thankful for.
And I’ll tell you, I didn’t get past the anger at God until I got past the anger at myself. And it wasn’t just because I felt guilty this happened to my daughter. I had been angry at myself for years. How can you forgive anybody else when you loathe yourself? It’s pretty hard! I was angry at myself because I believed all the lies Satan told me over the years – I wasn’t a good enough mom, I wasn’t smart enough, pretty enough, witty enough, skinny enough… When I sifted through all that trash and got to the truth about my value to God, THEN I was able to get rid of a lot of that anger. And my life has never been the same. God DOES love you, and He did when you were being abused. He loved me when my father was hitting me with a 2×4 telling me how stupid I was. And He loves my daughter too. While I am not thankful for the evil this man brought to our lives, I am thankful that God knew about it, and knew how to take care of us through it.
Two and half years later, my daughter is 9 now, and she’s still healing. Most of the time I think she’s doing pretty well. Some of the time I think she’s playing the “I’m ok, you’re ok” game. When she gets to the point where she’s ready to ask God “why did you let that happen to me?” I’m sure God will be expecting the question. If she listens hard enough, I have no doubt He’ll give her the answer.
Well, here I go – crying again.
I don’t even know what to say – mainly because I think you said it all. Bless you, Connie. Bless your sweet daughter, too.
It’s too early in the morning for all this cryin’. Oh my! What a touching and transparent story she shared!
There are healing waters flowing here…God is up to something good.
No doubt about it, indeed.
Wow, the power of God at work in a blog! Just shows that you can’t put God in a box, huh?!
Just finished reading…I feel for Mouse and am SO excited that she’s still willing to persue the Truth. I had a very similar experience and there was a time when I HAD to know where God was when this was happening. I was at the end of my rope. That night I had a dream. It was a repeat of a living nightmare I had experienced time and time again. The difference was Jesus was there. He had His hands over my eyes and ears and he had big tears rolling down his face. It’s not an answer that might soothe some, but for me it was exactly what I needed. Isn’t He the perfect Father to comfort us just the way we need it.
Wow — some amazing stories of God’s grace are flowing through this blog.
Thanks BooFriend for the follow-up and discussion. I’ve been praying for mouse because my heart has been broken for her. The powerful testimony of Clemntine breaks it again. The evil in this world makes me want to hurt those evil people.
Praise God that He’s in control. Praise God that He heals all our broken souls.