Abuse is horrific. It leaves scars and deeply wounds the soul.

Was abuse part of your childhood?

Do you feel that God has forgotten you or abandoned you?

Is there anger, hatred, or bitterness ruling in your heart?

There is hope for your hurting heart, relief from the tormented thoughts that hound you, a peace available that surpasses all human understanding, and a wave of healing and comfort that can wash all over you, flooding your heart with a deep-seated joy.

I saw this three minute video (link below) by Trinity Baptist Church on social media. I recognized the man speaking from earlier years when we both taught middle schoolers at our church. So, I knew of his love for the Lord, and I knew of his wife’s passion for missions, but I had no idea of the hurt from his childhood. Gary opens up about his past and about the hope available in Christ. One of my favorite quotes from him is:

“My past is not the definition or the defining moment of my life.”

Watch Gary’s video here: Gary’s testimony of God’s Grace and Love

Psalm 40 (ESV)

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.d

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

⁴ Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
⁵ You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.

⁶ In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ear.^[a
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
⁸ I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance^[b]
    in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

¹¹ As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”