The room was packed with women who had no idea what I was about to say.  It was one of the first times to share my testimony of God’s redemptive work in my life.  I am by nature a quiet and private person, so to tell the story of childhood sexual, verbal, and physical abuse was not easy. 

It took years before I was ready to share the healing and rebuilding God had done in my life.  I had fought an intense battle with shame, self-confidence, and worth.  There finally came a point that God began to lead me to share my story so that others might be healed.   I refuse to waste the pain I have endured through the years.  God has brought me through so much, and I am going to use it for His glory! 

As I was sharing my story on this occasion, I saw a woman who was sitting in the audience.  We knew each other, and I was well aware that she did not like me.  (Hey, it happens!)  She sat with the others and listened.  When the meeting was over, she approached me, and I thought that maybe my message had softened her. 

We will call her “Sandra.”  Sandra walked up to me and with a smirk on her face, she said in a babyish-type voice, “Awww.  Did her have a hard life growing up? Boohoo.” Ouch!  I could not believe what she had just said to me.  It was shocking, it was mean, it was immature. Sandra almost made me want to quit standing before anyone.    

All of us have faced times when harsh words were spoken over us as children or adults.  The Bible tells us, “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4 (NIV). Words matter. Some people are still under the burden of what someone said to them or about them.   

Sandra’s words brought me to a point of decision. I could allow her to take away my voice, or I could choose to remember God’s words in Romans 8:31. “What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Those are words that I have had to tell myself many times over the years. 

The reality is that life throws pretty hard punches.   Let’s be careful that we don’t fixate on the temporary hurts and inconveniences of this life. Take the “ouches” of life to God, ask for healing, and recite, “What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” 

Romans 8:31 teaches us that we will confront opposition, but that our opposition is doomed to failure. In other words, there is no one who could be more powerful than God and no one can destroy us. They might be against us, but they cannot defeat us. 

God is FOR you.  God is FOR you. God is FOR you.  Do you hear me saying it loudly?  GOD IS FOR YOU! I am still telling my story of redemption, regardless of Sandra’s words.  Let God’s words determine your actions. He is for you!