The Face In The Mirror

 

In Chapter One, Tracie is honest with her readers and shares a choice that changed the course of her life. As she says, she was someone who allowed herself to walk away from her faith and put God on the back burner of her life. The “why” question overwhelmed her soul. As you read chapter one, her plight is one of hopelessness and despair.  Here are some of the quotes that touched me as I read her story.

Tracie Miles states, “I had so many anxieties, fears and questions coursing through my mind, IT WAS AS IF A VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE HAD RIPPED THROUGH THE CORE OF MY VERY BEING.”

“ I was drowning in regret, panic, and uncertainty, the weight of emotion so heavy that I could scarcely draw a breath.”

“My first question was Why did God let this happen to me?”

“Will God ever forgive me for the choice I am about to make, which I know is the wrong one.”

“I felt ashamed of my past and the mistakes I had made thus far in my young life, yet more ashamed of my past and the mistakes I had made thus far in my young life, yet more ashamed of the mistakes I knew lay ahead.”

“If only I had known then the choke hold that suffocating shame would soon have over my life.”

“I latched tightly on to Satan’s lie that God would never forgive me nor love me, ever again.”

What are your experiences filled with shame and pain that Tracie felt over a choice that made in the heat of an argument, a moment of lust, in a time when you were not walking closely with God?

I walked away from the Lord in the late 1980’s and again in 2010-2012 when food was my idol. I worked my way through nursing school to leave my husband of twenty-five years. In 1989, filled with hate not love for the man I had made vows until death do you part.  I can so relate to these statements. My heart divorced my husband at that time. Divorce starts in your heart before you ever get the decree to match your feelings. As soon as school was over, I moved to an apartment. My oldest son stayed with his dad something I did not plan but looking back was one of the things God used to save my marriage.

Kelly Master shares her story in this chapter. Her father and alcoholic and her mom emotionally absent. She was abused sexually, emotionally, and verbally and became paralyzed by feelings of unworthiness. She relates that Jesus showed up strong in her life and He walked her through healing and restoration. 

God walked me through healing in 1995 I went through the Steps to Freedom. I had reconciled with my husband in 1989 after a four-month separation. In Step 3, the forgiveness step, I forgave many that day including my husband but more importantly myself.

Impressed by these statements from Tracie:

“I thought He had turned His back on me, but it turns out He was carrying me.”

“I spent years hating myself and believing I was unforgivable, despicable, and disgusting in God’s eyes.”

“I had no idea God had sovereign plan to use that horrific mistake for a divine purpose—His purpose for my life.”

Tracie asks, “When you look in the mirror today, what do you see?  Please share in the comments the three adjectives that come to your mind.

Will you ponder what God says about you?  Your mission today is to read Chapter One. Tracie encourages you in the book to write the negative adjective, the opposite of the adjective and a promise from the scripture.

She asks, “Have you ever questioned why God allowed a difficult experience in your life?

She encourages you to explore verses on forgiveness–Psalm 130:4, Psalm 32:5, Matthew 26:28, I John 1:9, Acts 3:19, Isaiah 1:18.

The chapter ends with healing balm, words to the soul. God forgives as far as east is from west.

“Praise God for the extraordinary day when His Presence burst into my life so powerfully that all the lies of the enemy were crushed beneath His sovereignty.”

[Tweet ““ a girl in the mirror- His beloved child—precious—loved—He pursued, forgave, and waited for her to accept His forgiveness and direction. A child whose life still mattered.” Tracie Miles”]

[Tweet ““I have been spiritually and emotionally healed, while stumbling down an imperfect road of obedience and seeing God’s promise of a hope and a future.” Tracie Miles”]

I needed this promise: “Your life still counts to God.” Do you?

Father God, You tell us in Psalm 103 that you forgive us as far as east is from west. Lord whether the mistakes the life of the woman reading this is abortion, adultery, lust, overspending, overeating You are faithful and want to redeem our lives from choices and mistakes we have made maybe as recently as today. You see each one of us as fearfully and wonderfully made as promised in Psalm 139. Lord these are life changing words, I choose to forgive________for ______ and it made me feel_____________.  I know when we acknowledge the core of the emotions that we have felt from the pain of the betrayal then forgiveness is complete.

Tracie reassured, “Your life still counts to God,” then asks, “Will you let yourself begin to believe it?”

I am praying for you and trust that this journey is one of healing.  I stayed with my husband and he healed my heart through forgiveness, my weight loss journey will be explored next week. Blessings. Diana

Matthew West has two wonderful songs: Hello My Name Is  and Forgiveness  Your mission is to listen to these songs and share something meaningful from this chapter. Oh, how I pray for your heart that you know who you are in Christ.