Never far away...

    At the age of fourteen, Mallory agreed to go to the movies with an eighteen year old. They never entered the movie theatre, instead, he took her somewhere and raped her.
    She felt broken and would look at herself in the mirror telling herself she was disgusting and had no worth. To deal with her trauma, she turned to drugs, drinking, sleeping around and cutting. She went into a state of deep depression and withdrew from family and friends. She attempted suicide but afterwards remained stuck in her emotional prison. She cried out to God asking for His help. That help came almost immediately through a youth leader who sent her a song that gave her hope and encouragement. As she began listening to the song, she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. She felt a hand over her heart. She began crying and talking to the Holy Spirit. She told Him, among other things, that she was tired of living the way she was and that she did not want to be depressed anymore. She felt the hand enter her chest and squeeze her heart. She felt every bad thing that had happened to her and every bad thing that she had done, leave her. The hand then left and she was filled with indescribable joy. She felt as if the Lord had gone into her and squeezed every negative thing out of her and replaced it all with the things of Him that He knew she needed to feel, like the fruit of the Spirit, peace, patience, love.
    From that moment, her life changed. She started following Jesus and has not stopped. She feels as if the Lord has washed her memory clean. She sees Him as her best friend. She is now a wife and mother and encourages girls who have faced similar challenges to embrace their true identity as a dearly loved child of God.
    Sometimes we make choices and decisions and are not always able to anticipate the negative way things turn out. Our life turns upside down and we see no way that anything will ever be the same. Fear and hopelessness step in and we may feel as if everything is spiralling out of control. One of the things I like about this story is the fact that when Mallory was at her lowest and no one could seem to penetrate her world of despair, God stepped in. He saw her in her pain and her suffering and even allowed her to go through a season of bad choices and decisions because of it. Yet, the interesting thing is that He was right there with her in her trauma, even when she could not feel Him. 
    Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Mallory was certainly broken and crushed and only the Lord could fully understand her pain. When she cried out to Him, He made Himself known to her and healed her heart from all the brokenness.
    God hears our cries. No matter how far the Israelites went from God time and again, when they faced trouble, as soon as they cried out to Him, He sent the help they needed. Psalm 61:2 says, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” God is still our strength and help when we need it. No matter how far we may go, God is never far away. He is always close enough to come to our rescue. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is still a present help in trouble and will never abandon us when we need Him. No matter how far challenges may take us, God is able to keep up with us and is always right there ready to help when needed. He will never fail you.

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