From Darkness to Deliverance

Abuse has a way of shading your world in a completely different light. It twists your reflection and convinces you that pain is your portion. I once believed I deserved it, that I wasn’t good enough, that I was nothing. There was a time I prayed for death, begged for numbness, and wished for the man who broke me to be taken away. I had no faith, no hope, and no strength left to fight. I believed God was only a story people told themselves to survive the ache I was drowning in.

But when the darkness loosened its grip, someone told me about the God who heals. The God who redeems broken hearts and writes beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3). I didn’t understand it at first, but something within me stirred… A quiet whisper that maybe, just maybe, there was still life left in me.

So I searched. And in my searching, I found a Savior who did not point at my pain in judgment, but reached into it with love. A God who understood what it felt like to be betrayed, wounded, and crushed by the hands of men (Isaiah 53:5). He showed me how to forgive, not because they deserved it, but because He forgave me first. He showed me that forgiveness wasn’t weakness; it was freedom.

The same God who calmed the storm didn’t always still the waves around me. Instead, He taught me to walk on them. When Peter stepped out onto the sea, the waves didn’t stop crashing, but his eyes were fixed on Jesus (Matthew 14:29-31). That’s where the miracle happens. Not in the absence of chaos, but in the presence of faith.

Now I understand: my pain had purpose. The very storm that once tried to drown me became the water I now walk upon. God didn’t erase my past, He redeemed it. What was once a wound became a testimony. What was once despair became hope.

If you find yourself lost in the waves, remember this… God will not always quiet the storm, but He will always be with you in it. Keep your eyes on Him, and even when you stumble, His hand will catch you before you sink.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.” — Isaiah 43