Who's REALLY on your side? One morning, you're sure it's your mom and the next morning you wake up assured that your mom is the last person on earth who could ever be on your side - I mean, she's two different people!
And what's the truth? One person explains it this way and, by the time you walk to your next class, somebody else has talked you into seeing it the totally opposite way.
Now throw in a mentally (as well as physically) overwhelming crisis such as rape, and you've got one more pretty mixed-up teen-ager!
Who can you trust? Or is there ANYBODY you can trust?
You're probably pretty frustrated by now if you've read all the posts before this part. You're thinking, "This nut has given me no answers. Another silly person who thinks they've got something to say that they think will help me! Oh, brother!"
You know why you feel that way? Because all these things we - your helpers - throw at you require one crucial element YOU have to contribute: FAITH. No, we can't promise you that everything's gonna' magically be fixed. We CAN promise you a better day - but YOU have to believe that!
What's the recipe for faith? You have to start with a situation that you see no evidence for or facts that will lead to improvement. YOU MUST HAVE A HUMAN IMPOSSIBILITY TO PRACTICE FAITH. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things NOT
SEEN." (Hebrews 11:1) You've definitely met the first requirement for faith!
The second ingredient in faith's recipe is God. You can be confused about God and still practice faith in God - Jesus talked about "faith as a grain of mustard seed" (Luke 17:6) - that's pretty small! Just keep reading your Bible and God will become clearer to you - "And ye shall seek Me (God) and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) No human can outline exactly how God will help you - because God is infinitely wiser than any of us, and He has no limitations.
The third element for faith is your focus - what are you going to look at? Are you gonna' endlessly re-hash all your problems, or are you gonna' keep your eyes firmly on God? Psalm 27:13 says you have to BELIEVE first before you can SEE the goodness of the LORD - and if you don't, you'll faint!
But you say, "What do you mean, 'Keep my eyes on God' - how am I supposed to do that?"
I'm glad you asked, 'cause it's all in the Bible - the Bible reveals God to us - "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17). And the Bible will fill your mind with truth, and the truth will conquer your confusion!
Dear survivor - you've made it through so much heartbreak and loss, here is my prayer for the next stages of your brave journey: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; THAT CHRIST MAY DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS BY FAITH; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:14, 16-21)
