Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of
death, being bound in
affliction and in irons, because they had rebelled
against the words
of God and spurned the counsel of the Most
High. - Psalm 107:10
CHAPTER 1
TROPHIES OF GRACE
Many people appear to have their lives together
outwardly, but inside
they are emotional wrecks because they have
been traumatized by abuse.
A victim of trauma is someone who has been
wounded physically or
emotionally by some sudden or substantial
shock that created severe
and lasting damage to the psychological
development of that
individual.
I believe there are many traumatized people in
the world who have been
so abused in the past that they are
psychologically deficient; they
are unable to function normally in everyday life.
There are people who
have been through such trauma that it severely
jarred their emotions,
because they endured something that was so
awful it was unspeakable.
Surviving the trauma of abuse can throw people
into a state of
psychological damage that prohibits them from
functioning properly in
relationships with others. Such victims do not
understand what is
wrong with them, or how to get out of their
destructive behavior
patterns so they can live a normal life. That was
my situation before
I learned how to gain the victory over the
trauma in my life.
Through seeking God and reading His Word, I
found
that the Lord's main concern is our inner life,
because that is where
we enjoy His presence. Jesus said, "For behold,
the kingdom of God is
within you[in your hearts] and among you
[surrounding you]" (Luke
17:21, emphasis mine) .This book is a
summation of how God taught me
to triumph through Christ over the tragedy of abuse in my life. After
I had spent many years preaching His Word,
God led me to 2 Corinthians
2:14: "But thanks be to God, Who in Christ
always leads us in triumph
[as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us
spreads and makes
evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God
everywhere."
One Thanksgiving morning, a spirit of
thankfulness began to rise up
within me as I considered all that God had done
for me. He spoke to my
heart that day and said to me, "Joyce, you are a
trophy of My grace,
and you are helping Me get other trophies."
Then I had a vision of a
display case in heaven, filled with trophies. I
understood that when
someone wins trophies, it is because that person
is a champion at what
he or she does. If people have baseball, golf, or
bowling trophies
displayed in their homes, it is obvious that they
have spent a lot of
time developing their skill in that particular area.
God is the Champion at bringing people from a
place of destruction to
a place of total victory. As they reach that place
of victory they
become trophies of His grace, and they are set
on display as a
fragrant reminder of God's goodness. I share
my testimony in
this book to help those who are still in the
process of becoming a
trophy for God.
Through both tragedies and triumphs, I have
learned that Jesus is my
King, and He wants to be yours, too. The
kingdom He desires to reign
over is our inner life- our mind, will, emotions,
desires, and
thoughts. The Word teaches clearly that "the
kingdom of God is not a
matter of [getting the] food and drink [one
likes], but instead it is
righteousness (that state which makes a person
acceptable to God) and
[heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who
serves Christ in this
way is acceptable and pleasing to God and is
approved by men" (Romans
14:17-18).In other words, if God's kingdom rules
within us, we will
enjoy righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit. We will also
be acceptable to God and approved by men.
Jesus said that we should
not worry about external things, such as food and clothes, but that we
should "seek (aim at and strive after) first of all
His kingdom and
His righteousness (His way of doing and being
right), and then all
these things taken together will be given [us]
besides" (Matthew
6:33).
Before all else, we are to seek the kingdom of
God,which is within
us,and then all of our external concerns will be
taken care of. When
we accept Jesus as our Lord, He rules our inner
life and brings with
Him righteousness, peace, and joy. No matter
what difficulties or
trials we may experience in our outward life, if
we are whole inside,
we will not only survive, we will enjoy our lives.
Our inner life with God is much more important
than our outer life.
Therefore, emotional healing, which I also refer
to as inner healing,
is a subject that needs to be discussed in a
scriptural, balanced way
that produces godly results. The apostle Paul
said that we can be
"assured that He Who raised up the Lord Jesus
will raise us up also
with Jesus and bring us . . .
into His presence" (2 Corinthians 4:14). In verses
1618 he continued:
Therefore we do not become discouraged
(utterly spiritless, exhausted,
and wearied out through fear). Though our outer
man is [progressively]
decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is
being [progressively]
renewed day after day.
For our light, momentary affliction (this slight
distress of the
passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly
preparing and producing
and achieving for us an everlasting weight of
glory [beyond all
measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons
and all calculations,
a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness
never to cease!],Since
we consider and look not to the things that are
seen but to the things
that are unseen; for the things that are visible
are temporal (brief
and fleeting), but the things that are invisible
are deathless and
everlasting.
Everyone is subject to what Paul called,
"momentary afflictions," and
some of us have suffered what seemed at the
time to be unbearable,
emotional pain.
But Jesus came "to announce release to the captives and
recovery of
sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered
those who are oppressed
[who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and
broken down by calamity]"
(Luke 4:18-19).
The King James Version of verse 18 says that
Jesus said He came "to
heal the brokenhearted." According to Strong's
Exhaustive
Concordance,the word translated brokenhearted
in this verse is a
combination of two Greek words, kardia,
meaning simply"heart,"1 and
suntribo {soon-tree'-bo), which means "to crush
completely, i.e. To
shatter . . .break (in pieces), broken to shivers . .
. , bruise."21
believe Jesus came to heal those who are
broken inside-those who are
crushed and wounded inwardly.
If you have been traumatized by abuse, it is my
hope that this book
will serve as a road map to get from the ashes
of devastation to the
beauty of health and wholeness in your inner
self. I pray that you
will find this message to be simple, clear, and
powerful, and that the
Holy Spirit will enable you to follow Him to your
destination of peace
and joy.
My prayer for you is paraphrased from
Ephesians 3:16:
I pray that you will be strengthened in the inner
man through the
power of the Holy Spirit and that He will indwell
your innermost being
and personality. I also encourage you to always
remember God's
promise,
found in Hebrews 13:5-6:
For He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any
way fail you nor give
you up nor leave you without support. [I will]
not, [I will] not, [I
will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor
forsake nor let [you]
down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
So we take comfort and are encouraged and
confidently and boldly say,
The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with
alarm [I will not
fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do
to me?
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