Java with Juli: Why Telling Your Story is Complex, Courageous and Healing, #353
Full Transcript
Someone recently wrote in, I’m in a place where God is restoring areas of my life that have been broken so that I can see his true design for these areas, including what’s happened to me in sexual abuse. So what is the first step I can take with the Lord to understand what I believe and why I believe it for myself?
Well, this is a really deep question. And I would say that perhaps the first step is also the only step that we need to take.
And that first and only step is to know Jesus. And I think so many times, even if we go to church, if we read the Bible, we have sort of a secondhand knowledge of who God is. We just are cognitively reading something and saying, I believe that without it really getting to our heart. And one of the things that I’ve realized in my own walk with God is there’s a difference between knowing what I believe in the Bible and actually having an encounter with God, really knowing that intimacy with God that changes our hearts, that lets us know that he really is real, that he sees our pain, that he’s walking with us. And so one of the things that I would encourage you to do to begin that journey of truly knowing God, not just knowing about him, is to spend time in worship. This is something that Authentic Intimacy co-founder, Linda Dillow, really taught me personally, is yes, Bible study is important.
I love the Bible, but I also need time of just worship. And so what I typically do in the morning is I get on my knees first thing after I get out of bed, brush my teeth, just get on my knees and sometimes just put on worship music and imagine that I’m in the presence of God, just lifting him up. And I ask God, help me to know your presence. Help me to know that it’s not just that you love the world out there, but you love me, that you see my pain, you see my struggles; what your word says, that you’re gonna counsel me, you’re gonna comfort me, help me to experience that. And I really believe that it’s that journey of knowing God personally and intimately that ushers in healing in all areas of life, including healing through our sexual wounds.