Author Stormie Omartian grew up with a mother who told her she was worthless. She locked Stormie in a closet because she couldn't 'stand to see her daughter's face'!
Stormie writes: 'I was raised by a mentally ill mother . . . and . . . her behaviour left me with guilt, hopelessness, helplessness and deep emotional pain. By the time I was a young woman I was still locked in - only the boundaries were emotional not physical - a deep, ever-present pain which expressed itself through self-destruction and paralysing fear.
Years later [with help from a Christian counsellor] I learned that unforgiveness as deeply rooted as mine...must be unravelled one layer at a time.
One day I felt led to pray, "Lord, give me a heart like Yours for my mother."
Immediately I had a vision of her as a beautiful, fun-loving, gifted woman with no resemblance to the person I knew . . . I was seeing her the way God made her to be, not the way she'd become.
What an amazing revelation!
In an instant I put together the pieces of her past -
To enjoy everything God has for you, pray a prayer of release and let go of the past.'. . . her mother's tragic death. . . the suicide of her beloved uncle and foster father, her feelings of abandonment, guilt, bitterness and unforgiveness. . . Touching the heart of God brought such forgiveness that when she died. . . I had no bad feelings. In fact, the more I forgave her the more God brought to mind good memories. . . People are often the way they are because of how life shaped them, and only God knows their history.
Only then can you move on.
Soul Food: Lev 15-17, Matt 6:1-8, Ps 46, Pr 1:32-33
Written by Bob & Debby Gass
Friday, 10 January 2014
APPS available here
