“I didn’t want to face the hurt anymore…so I buried it and tried to forget about it.”
Rebecca spent most of her adult life looking for ways to bury the hurt and shame of her childhood. From the earliest moments of her childhood, she watched while her alcoholic father abused her mother, who regularly brought home other men. When Rebecca was a teenager, her mom’s boyfriends started flirting with her too, and she remembers that was when she began to feel “dirty and ashamed” all the time.
School provided a sort of escape for Rebecca from her abusive home life. But when she was 14, she was sexually abused by a teacher.  She didn’t tell anyone for years. “I put my abuse in denial,” she said. “I didn’t want to face the hurt anymore, so I buried it and tried to forget about it.”  She began to drink and party a lot. “Drinking and partying was my life,” she said. “It numbed me from the pain of my abuse, and it helped me forget.”
As an adult, Rebecca started looking for answers. She had met a Christian, and talking with him about Jesus made her curious to know God for herself. But every time she tried reading the Bible, she felt guilty. “I felt like God was punishing me, so I would get panic attacks and anxiety,” she said.
Rebecca’s shame and guilt started to consume her, and she became increasingly afraid of the future. One night, while watching TV, she stumbled across the Real Show and was introduced to  the God of love. She said, “Pastor Daniel is helping me understand who God really is and to know who I am in Jesus.”
“Pastor Daniel is helping me understand who God really is and to know who I am in Jesus.” Click To TweetRebecca gave her life to Jesus and is finding healing from the wounds of her past. She has a beautiful routine: she is attending a Bible study every Friday night, she watches Pastor Daniel every time he comes on TV, and she is teaching children at a local church. She said, “I just want to know God in such a deeper way, so I can live my life according to His will for me!”
We were so thankful for the opportunity to talk with Rebecca and hear her story this week…God loves us right where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there. He’s the God who wants to heal us from our sins – and also from the sins others have committed against us.
Note: if you or someone you know is suffering sexual abuse, please seek help at the National Sexual Assault Hotline. You can contact them at 800.656.HOPE (4673).
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