“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you . . . “
Zechariah 9:9 (NLT)
I have one client in particular who is doing the laborious work of looking at her brokenness and letting Jesus heal her. Let’s call her “Jen” (not her real name).
Not surprisingly, most weeks when we began our session she would say something like, “This healing stuff is hard work, and I knew it would be. But I just didn’t know how difficult!” Every time she said this I would attempt to encourage her by reminding her that the difficulty doesn’t indicate that she is doing something wrong, but quite the opposite. In her case, it indicated that she actually was doing the real work correctly.
In our most recent session there was somewhat of a shift in our conversation. It went something like this:
Me: Hello, Jen. How are you?
Jen: You know, I’m actually okay!
Me: Hmmm, I think I’m hearing that as a good “okay” and a positive thing. Is that correct?
Jen: Yes, it really is!
Me: Excellent! What is making the difference?
Jen: (With tears in her eyes) I am beginning to see Jesus as my Prince Charming. Coming to rescue me and whisk me away.
Me: Wow, Jen! That is such a beautiful picture you’re painting. What is Jesus whisking you from, and what is He whisking you to?
Jen: (Even more tears) He is taking me away from my false ideas of Who He is. He is taking me away from the false ideas of who I think I am, and how He views me. He is taking me to a place where I understand that I am unconditionally loved and accepted by Him.
Incredible! This was great news. I was so excited for and rejoicing with Jen. Jen is not unique in that what originally led her to me was a struggle with porn and/or masturbation. She was somewhat unique, however, in that the sexual acting out struggle she experienced was not current. She had stopped the acting out some time ago. But she was plagued by the shame of the acting out and low self-worth from the things in her past. Jen needed a rescuer, and she found One in Jesus.
What honest woman would say she hasn’t wished for a Prince Charming to come and rescue her? The good news is, we have One. He is sitting mounted on His horse waiting to swoop in and rescue you. Not because He thinks you are helpless or pitiful, but because He delights in you and longs to take you to the place He prepared for you -- a place of love, light, truth and freedom. It is a place where you are no longer confined by life dominating habits and the small thinking of the lies of the flesh and the enemy.
“He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me.” -Psalm 18:19 (KJV)
You see, for most of us the true thing we need rescuing from is not the sexual behavior that we have grown to loathe, though we often think that is the case. Certainly, we do strive to abolish this habit in practical ways (many of which can be found here or at CovenantEyes). The behavior, however, is only a symptom of something deeper we need to be rescued from.
Jesus didn’t come to simply help us stop our sexual acting out. Jesus came to rescue us from the lies and long held shame beliefs that caused us to act out in the first place and then are often solidified by our acting out.
Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?
“God loves everyone but me...”
“I’m not enough...”
“If others really knew me they wouldn’t’ love me...”
“No one will ever want me...”
“I am damaged goods...”
“I’m so far gone even God can’t help me...”
And on and on the list of shame lies could go…
I want to encourage you to be honest, and ask yourself what lies you have believed that you need rescuing from. For me, as I broke free from my own addiction I believed many of the above lies -- and even more! But as I began to dare to believe that Jesus not only came to rescue me from those lies, but longs to do so, I started to experience His freedom not only in my mind, but in my behaviors.
You see, as I realized I truly was valuable to Him the need for my coping mechanisms lessened as I learned that He was taking care of me and protecting me. As I had the audacity to cling to scripture and test Him as my Comforter I found I no longer needed to come up with my own false comforter of porn and masturbation.
What God did and is doing for Jen and for me He will also do for you. He doesn't show favoritism, after all!
Take that first step of trusting Him to be Who He said He will be for you.
40 Days of Purity
Online Course for Women
This online course is for women who want to break free from pornography or any other unwanted sexual behaviors. Written and facilitated by Kimberly Johnson, counselor and founder of Divine Identity.