The victory still belongs to Jesus!

​          God has, I believe, placed a burden in my heart for victims of human and sex trafficking. There would be times I would have my devotions and find myself led to pray earnestly for the freedom, salvation and deliverance of those caught in this vicious trap.
         This week I listened to the story of a young woman, Jessa, who was actually raised by her parents for the purpose of being trafficked. They belonged to a religious cult and taught her that she was too stupid to be anything but a prostitute so that was why she could not go to school. At that point she believed that that was the reason why God created her. She was also taught that He was an angry person and so she was afraid of Him. She was miserable with her life, resorted to cutting herself and tried many times unsuccessfully to escape. 
         As I listened to her story, I could sense her feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. She was trapped and what made it worse was the reality that the very people who should have been protecting her - her parents - were the ones responsible for exposing her to all this evil. 
         Many of us can probably relate to this sense of feeling trapped, hopeless, helpless; the sense of being in a situation where you have no idea how in the world you will ever be able to escape. You may feel like giving up and choose to simply resign yourself to the belief that things will never change, will never improve, that you will never be able to escape, that you will never be able to accomplish your hopes and dreams, that this is as good as it’s going to get.
         Jessa’s life got progressively worse and one day she went for a walk and decided to plan her suicide. While on this walk, the sky suddenly became extremely dark. The loudest thunder she had ever heard clapped overhead and a bolt of lightning touched the ground near her. Immediately, she cried out to Jesus to save her. From the heavens she heard a voice say to her: “The enemy has not won I have claimed the victory!” She realized at that moment that God was not the angry God she had thought and that He actually cared about her and that she could talk to Him herself without the intervention of a cult leader. He assured her that she was forgiven and she accepted His forgiveness.
         When I heard what God spoke to her from the heavens it registered in my spirit. She was trapped that was certain, yet, here was God letting her know that as much as it seemed as if her situation was hopeless, it wasn’t. It looked as if evil had prevailed, as if darkness had conquered light, but it had not. Jesus has still won the victory!
         In our own lives, at times it may seem as if evil has won, as if our circumstances will never change, as if we will never overcome. Yet, because Christ won the victory on the Cross, we are more than conquerors through Jesus (Romans 8:37). We can never really be trapped, because Jesus died to set us free from every bondage. There is no chain He cannot break, no trap He cannot free us from, no bondage that can truly enslave us because in Christ we have the victory!!!
         I am reminded of the story of the woman with the spirit of infirmity for eighteen years which rendered her unable to raise herself up (Luke 13:10-13). It would seem she had resigned herself to her fate and did not even seek help. Interestingly however, Jesus was the one who saw her state and reached out and healed her. He saw her, had compassion on her, and chose to deliver her. Her bondage was not permanent but an opportunity for God to prove His power.
         A year or so later, the young woman in our story was at a hotel when a woman slipped her her number. This woman was able to recognize that she was being trafficked. When she finally got the courage to call her, she helped her get a plane ticket to Denver, Colorado where she was taken to a safe house. From that time, she was able to work through her healing, was adopted by a couple, completed high school and even went on to successfully complete her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. She got married and with her husband founded Bridge Hope, a non-profit organization which helps victims of sex trafficking.
         Jessa’s situation looked thoroughly hopeless. God wasn't even an option for her, yet, God chose to step in and turn her life completely around for the better. If God did it for Jessa and for the woman bound by a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years, He can and will do it for you. Even though you may have given up, these are true stories that remind us that even in our darkest of times, God’s light will shine through when we least expect. Even though you may have given up and chosen to accept your situation as is, the God of hope, the God of miracles can and will still do a miracle for you.
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to make that step now. God is not an angry God sitting on His throne watching you suffer. He loves you and wants to help you. He wants to set you free from those things that have you bound and miserable. If you give Him a chance, He will do the impossible and, like Jessa, He will give you a beautiful life that you thought was completely out of your reach.

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