A Yard of Glory

I didn’t get here by myself. It’s the one thing about all these healing tools I don’t like. They put the onus of healing on the victim. While it is certainly — strike that, absolutely necessary to find and tell your story, what do you do with all the broken pieces you find?

That burden of responsibility is too great to bear alone.

When I could find no more strength, I dropped to my knees and prayed. It didn’t matter if I’d just woken up with an intense hangover or if my circumstances had me coming home from a one-night-stand.

I brought God with me everywhere. I needed Him desperately for the parts I didn’t know how to fix.

If God looked only at my actions, I’d be in a world of trouble — sometimes. Sometimes my actions are quite good.

My point is this: we need a strong God to intervene in our healing process and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

I did run out of strength.

I did run out of hope.

I did run the gambit and want to die, more often than those around me knew.

But, I kept going. I didn’t stop and look back at all the demons chasing me. I stood.

There are these beautiful words in the scriptures that speak to us about this. Paul said to the Galatians, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal through human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing — if it really was for nothing?”

Paul was trying to teach that it is a free gift that God gives. He does the work for us that we simply cannot do. Jesus said He came to “heal the broken hearted and set the captive free.”

This world makes millions and millions of dollars on healing stuff — some good, some not so good and some are very destructive. These tools can leave the victim with their story and all the broken pieces exposed. They can show you your problem and then they also tell you to now “heal yourself.”

Let God do His job. Let Him do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

Originally published at http://prisonerbynocrimeofmyown.com on October 15, 2021.