‘The Message of The Lords Freedom’

No matter what has happened in your life, however painful is never forgotten by God. Do you know he has a plan and a purpose for your life?

Isaiah Chapter 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a] 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

Do you know Gods desire for you is to be healed from the pain others have caused you? Maybe it is hard for you to believe there is a living God that cares about the pain and injustice you have suffered from being abused. But please know it was never Gods plan for you to be hurt in any way. People in their freewill CHOSE to make decisions against you that have set you on a certain path; a path of decisions, feelings and actions that may feel you cannot turn back from. But know this; no matter the devastation he can turn any circumstance or situation around for your good and his glory.

I was sexually abused as a child. I have wished many times in my life that this had never happened to me. I imagined many times during my periods of mental struggles if an abuse free childhood would have shaped me on the journey from childhood to womanhood into a better more rounded woman. Unfortunately this is not my reality and I have grown to accept that fact. I have never regretted speaking out or the road it has taken me down for last 30 years, for I believe my trials have shaped me into the brave and courageous woman I am today but it left me at times during periods of depression and low self esteem questioning where God was in the midst of my pain and why he would allow this to happen to me.

What good could come out of the hindrance dealing with the aftermath sexual abuse left behind in my life? I struggled to know who I was and my purpose in life. I did not feel I belonged anywhere. I felt I was unique and different in the way I thought about things and knew from a young age I was a leader and not a follower. Then twenty-three years after I was abused the jigsaw of my life started to come together. God showed me my purpose; to help others like me who have been sexually abused find their voice and find hope. Through the talents and skills he has given me.

Not a very glamorous calling, I know. I admit in my own feelings and emotions I felt at one point cheated by it and furthermore that my personal journey should be about only me. Surely the purpose of my life should have been all about me getting the justice I so rightly deserved, being compensated for my treatment at the hands of others and fulfilling whatever goals and dreams I may have decided. It was never going to go like that because I was lost. If I am honest I have had times where I resented my experience, so intimate and personal guided by God into an arena of different places for me to share openly. But the more I have come to understand that because of the boldness of strength given to me by God, I have the ability to touch many lives by opening up and speaking out rather than hiding away and keeping silent about what has happen to me. I have developed a spiritual maturity that has allowed me to see it now as a blessing. I know Gods purpose for my life is right and I have had the privilege of helping, supporting and seeing others take their first steps to being set free from the bondage of sexual abuse.

When I felt led by God to write my autobiography Daughter Arise, I never thought that anyone would be interested in reading it. That was the negative mind set speaking. Up to that point in my life I felt alone in my experience, low in self esteem and confidence. But I had nothing to fear because amazingly by opening up about my story many women and men opened up to me about their own stories. They felt relief in knowing they were not alone and in turn it helped me to have more confidence in believing good could come out of chaos of my life and helped me in my healing process.

Being in a position to provide simple comfort to others by listening or helping in other ways has organically grown into Daughter Arise the organisation I founded in 2011. From the book, organisation, support group and all the work I have done through it to help others find hope has been the purpose of my life and it is challenging, frustrating and fulfilling all at the same time!

So I want to tell you freedom comes through God and his son Jesus Christ. Look at my life! What he has done for me he can do for you! His favour is upon those whose hearts have been broken, the oppressed and the poor in spirit. He wants to bless every area of your life in a way you have never experienced. He WILL deliver justice upon those who have wronged you but YOU HAVE to cease the opportunity with courage and help to be free from your past which will in turn help you find the life of meaningful purpose God has always had for you. You may never forget what has happened to you in the past, in time the memories fade. No longer an open wound but a battle scar.Your past can be turned into a positive for your future and the future of others.

My story may sound like a broken record because I have told it many times before. Does that mean surely is it time to stop talking about it?

No. Because everyday there is someone who needs to hear it. Many people have never heard it, not just in London, this country and all over the world. That is the purpose for which I am called. To proclaim the message of hope in spite of painful beginnings.

Yvonne x