A Letter to the Broken-hearted

Today I am writing to the one who has suffered abuse from the one who is supposed to love her.

I am writing to the one who was used for her body.

I am writing to the one who believed the manipulation of an evil person and became trapped. 

I am writing to the one who was taken advantage of by people of power. 

I am writing to the one who has been bullied, teased, prejudged, or suffered   hurt by another person. 

I am writing to the one who feels unseen, unclean, unheard, not worthy, unloved, not wanted. ​

I see you. I hear you. You ARE loved. You ARE wanted. You have a place and a purpose in this world. You are not broken. 

I know your mind may be telling you that you don't, but our thoughts are usually not our friend. Why do we listen to them as if they are? Our minds tend only to remember the negative experiences we've had. If we are not careful, we can let those experiences dictate our identities, how we view ourselves; we can let them be the filter through which we see our relationships. It's like having a mean girl in our head that won't shut the heck up. Her name is probably Karen. What Karen doesn't want you to know? You are more than what happened to you. 
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Your trauma does not define you. It is what happened to you, not who you are. 

Healing IS possible. Life beyond the best you can imagine is within your reach. It takes a little work, time, humility, and a whole lot of Jesus. He loves you and wants so much more for you. If you don't know Jesus, let me tell you a little bit about Him. 

First and foremost He loves you, really loves you. For real. Not the fake, conditional, when-it-feels-good kind of love we as humans tend to give. No, this love is beyond comprehension. I still haven't completely grasped it and I probably never will.  After living a life where everyone leaves, pushing people away because "they'll leave anyway", it was the greatest gift to realize that Jesus never leaves my side. Trust me: I've tried to make Him. I even believed the lie that I could make Him not love me at one point - as if I had the power to make the very One who created love stop loving! He is the one constant. 

You can try self-sabotage, running, ignoring, chasing worldly things but He is always there waiting. When we return or come to Him for the first time, I imagine Him lifting our face (Psalm 3:3) saying:

 “I missed you, daughter of God. You bring me such joy (Zephaniah 3:17). I have been by your side through the pain you have endured (Joshua 1:9). Dear chosen one (Ephesians 1:3-4) I have so much in store for you. It is time now to move into a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17), one with trials (John 16:33), yes, but also with freedom from what kept you stuck (Galatians 5:1), joy in the middle of storms (Nehemiah 8:10), a peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7), and unconditional love (Romans 8: 38-39). Come beside me as we move forward. You no longer have to do all the work. Just rest in my strength. I will heal you, I will strengthen you, I will show you how I see you." 
 
As someone who has been there too, I want you to know that healing is worth the work to get there. If we don't deal with it we won't heal. If we don't heal then we have to deal with Karen. I'll take Jesus over Karen any day.