“Breaking free from the shackles of shame is not an overnight experience or a quick-fix, ten-step process. It is, however, a grand, ongoing adventure of discovering the depths of God’s love and the huge scope of His power to transform us, recreate us, and continually renew us”
-Christine Caine
I think everyone struggles with a constant negativity. To some extent, an idea/sin/feeling, haunts your every day, and it’s a daily choice to surrender it to God and choose to believe what He says is there instead of what you see in front of you.
For me, that thing is shame. Shame used to haunt me and control my life. While its hold on me is not overpowering anymore, it is still something very present in my day to day. It’s a conscious choice I have to make more than daily: choosing to believe that my life is defined by grace now. That God puts a cloak of grace on me, and doesn’t see what’s underneath. That He sees me the same way He sees Jesus. More recently however, I’ve told God that I’m healed. That shame is over and I’m free.
I find it humbling then, that God sent me two books this week, with the title “Unashamed.” The first sent by a stranger I’ve only talked to once in my life over Facebook...someone who had written a book called Unashamed and felt led to send it to me. The latter by a friend, who knew that I’d been dying to get my hands on this book. Two books called Unashamed. Both sent to me in the span of 72 hours. It’s almost as if God is saying (in a little more than a whisper): “Shame still haunts you. You think I’ve healed you, but I have so much more in store. I have so much more to give you.” Ironically, the second I told God I was healed, that my life was all victory all of the time, those exact same feelings of shame began to creep right back to where they’d been before.
And I’ve come to realize that this weekend. Shame is a monster that doesn’t go away overnight. It is not a quick fix. It is not a ten step or twelve step process. It’s an ongoing adventure. It’s pressing into the depths of God’s heart and letting His love continually affirm who we are in Him. Only God is capable of taking away shame. People can point me in the right direction and people can point me towards Jesus, but only Jesus is my Healer. Only He knows how to make me into who He created me to be. So let’s start pressing in. Let’s start listening to what He says about shame and what He says about us. It’s an ongoing adventure that will never stop renewing us, recreating us, and transforming us. I’m about to hop on board, and I’m so ready for the ride.
