I live in fear of something done to me and seek solace!

I live in fear of something done to me and seek solace

Fear is not always a personal encounter, but the concern we see in those who have been abused rings loud and clear on the victims.  Why do they hold back from revealing an open attack on their privacy?  Embarrassment that they may be guilty of what someone else perpetrated upon their innocence.  Some even commit suicide to avoid the scourge.

As we get closer to God in our ministry the actuality of such indiscriminate actions by the ones we held in highest esteem now places a sadness within our role as clergy.  

Imagine if you were the victim of an unwelcome incident and being too young to absorb the sting that was not your fault, you didn’t know whom you could trust to tell this situation to.  The feeling you have is as bad as eating a food that leaves a sour taste in your stomach and you want to spit it out.  The unfortunate incident that a sexual approach does the same and you do not want to partake of it again.  But because the person who attacked you plants a lie within your innocence and makes you feel as though you had something to do with the action, making you feel guilty.  

There is an unfortunate occurrence with so many young boys and girls who were caught in a web of evil and cannot get free from its tentacles.  The feeling of embarrassment is so strong that many spouses of maturing adults are not able to reveal the evils that their spouses have endured.  If they are aware of the problem, their lips are sealed and the problem persists, some to their death.  

This fear is one element of feelings that has become deeply rooted within these persons  and the fight to draw that evil out into the open is like a conviction to something that promises disaster.  So, these children of God are left with distrust of clergy, reluctant to speak with those who will help, and end up falling away from God.  

We who can only sit and watch from a distance of these souls must reach out to God, and through his Holy Spirit ask for the wisdom we are not aware of until the Spirit guides us with the right approach and words, if any, to assist in showing God has not rejected them.  

The battle we must remember is not of flesh and blood but with powers and principalities, with the world's leaders, and the present darkness with evil spirits in the heavens.  Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to hold your ground.  This does not directly assist the abused, but through your own adherence you may indirectly be the assistance you are looking for.  (cf Eph 6: 12 - 13).  

Ralph B. Hathaway