shareyourstorynow.org

“Why Did Things Go Wrong?”

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

[Isaiah 30: 20-21 NIV]

Abby, our program manager, writes:

A recent conversation with an old friend reminded me of several years back when I was living in Nashville, TN, with my roommate Heather and all the struggles we endured.

It was a time in my life when I had moved to this city to pursue a job offer that was given to me, but as time passed I found myself drowning so heavily in debt that I thought I’d never get out of it.

I was constantly depressed and often wondered why God had placed me in such a horrible position. I knew that I was sent to Nashville for a purpose, and knew I heard Him tell me that I had to be there, but then why did everything go so wrong?

Heather and I would often go to church and had many friends who encouraged us and often helped us out financially in order to buy groceries and pay the rent, but I still questioned Him. Why am I here? Why are you doing this?

Also during my time in Nashville, I was raped. This was the final straw for me. I felt like I had been completely forsaken and that God had forgotten all about me. Surely He had if he allowed this to happen.

There were days when I didn’t even get out of bed because I didn’t feel there was a need to. I wouldn’t eat or talk to anyone.

No one knew what I had gone through for quite some time until Heather and I started talking about prayer. That evening I broke down. I told her everything that had happened. Heather and I cried for hours about it and I had never felt more loved and more broken than at that moment.

Through a mutual friend of ours I was able to report the rape to the local police and also go to a Christian counselor, who reminded me that I was precious and loved. After that experience, I moved back home with my family in Florida and was able to find rest and refuge in my parents’ home.

Since then I have not forgotten what happened on that day. But as the years have passed, I have been able to forgive the man who did this to me and grow stronger in my relationship with Christ, my Father.

God blessed me with a husband who loves me and accepts me for who I am, not for what I have been through. I’m no longer in debt, and I have learned to trust God more in my walk with Him, no matter what happens.