ROOTED RENEGADE

We continue to see exposures of those in positions of power and authority on a mass global scale. The Epstien files have unmasked those who have benefited from the grotesque exploitation of children. People are starting to see what has been hidden for decades come into the light as a wave of unveiling takes place. From the pulpit to the palace, the horrors are being unearthed and the evil can no longer stay hidden.

Giants like the darkness they hide in. It’s comfortable for them. They also like to use their positions to intimidate us into submission and silence. It’s an age old tactic that has been around for centuries and we have seen it in some form or fashion.

But what happens when it hits personally? Many people experience this type of abuse but don’t know how to talk about it or if they will even be heard. It comes in the form of narcissism and is a quite ugly spirit that likes to force submission through power and persuasion.

Often times it gets overlooked when it shows up in a relationship. We don’t want to see the ugly that people show when they are oppressed by the enemy. Especially when you love someone.

When people abuse power and positions they know how to prey on those who are vulnerable. They have studied people long enough to know their weak spots. They know the right words to say, moves to make, and gestures of kindness that will cause someone to lower their defenses and ignore their discernment.

I have seen this personally on many occasions. I grew up looking for love in the all the wrong places because the places I was supposed to be getting nurtured and loved on weren’t healthy themselves. Love was a broken and abusive concept to me and I had no framework for healthy. The enemy knew that if he could keep me trapped in unhealthy relationships that I would become submissive to whoever would dangle just a small bit of love in front of me. I would fall for it like fish when they bite a hook with a dangling worm. 

When we are starved of love…

When we are starved of affection…

When we are starved of kindness…

When we are starved of gentleness…

When we are starved of tenderness…

Our hearts carry the emptiness and our souls the gaping holes that need to be filled. 

We no longer rationalize the healthiest ways to get filled up. Instead we look to fill that emptiness any way we can. And in doing so, our defenses are not up, discernment is lacking, and our vision is blurry. Again, this makes us vulnerable.

BUT…and this is a BIG BUT…we can choose to get filled and healed by Jesus. 

I used to think I would always be under the rule of an abuser. That it was my lot in life to remain under their thumb of power. That standing up for myself was wrong and would only create more problems. Non-compliance, which I had been taught carried severe consequences, would only add fuel to a fire that was already burning.

But then I discovered who Jesus says I am. I discovered that submission to Him didn’t equal submission to man. That surrender meant laying down all of me at His feet to be healed and delivered. That being taught by Him how to live my life would look contrary to what I had always known. I discovered the lies of the enemy against me and about me. And that tolerance and compliance did not equal truth.

I had to learn that bucking authority was only causing me to be blinded to God’s holiness and love. While I have to continue to submit and surrender, it gets easier each time. I show up differently. I respond differently. I am not always right and the lens in which I see through isn’t always either. 

But trusting in Jesus to remove the kaleidoscope glasses so I can see clearly while changing my perspective on situations, helps me to discern what I am really up against…even if it is myself.

When we battle giants who abuse power, we can get very defensive and act rebelliously in defense. But God doesn’t ask us to be our own defense system. He asks us to trust Him as our shield and defense. He can defeat these giants by exposing their true nature and motives.

God’s exposure is perfect and based in complete truth. Ours is imperfect and often has elements of bias, judgement, trauma and pain.

I encourage you today to ask Holy Spirit to help you see the motives behind those in your life who may be abusing power and positions to hurt you and keep you bound in oppression. 

Faythe