Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your heart so honestly and for asking for prayer. The desire you expressed to come out of isolation, to use the gifts God has given you, and to step back into community again is a beautiful and God honoring desire, and it is right to bring it to the Lord and ask for boldness.
The Scripture teaches that boldness is not something we work up in ourselves. In Christ we have boldness and confident access to God through faith in Him. There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, and through His blood we can enter into the very presence of God with confidence. That means you do not have to earn your way back or prove yourself worthy to draw near. Because of what Jesus has done, you can come boldly to the Father just as you are, even while you are still healing from trauma, and find mercy and grace to help.
The early followers of Jesus understood this. When they faced threats and felt their own weakness, they did not pray for the difficulty to be removed. They prayed, Lord grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word, and God answered by filling them and giving them power to speak with courage. When people saw the boldness of Peter and John, they were amazed because those men were considered ordinary and unlearned, yet they spoke with confidence that clearly came from having been with Jesus. Your boldness will come the same way, not from feeling strong in yourself, but from spending time in the presence of Jesus and remembering that He is with you.
It is also understandable that after severe trauma, isolation can feel safer. In ancient times those with leprosy were pushed outside the community and had to live apart and warn others to stay away. That kind of separation was painful and dehumanizing. Jesus was the one who drew near to those isolated ones, touched them and restored them to community. He does the same today. He is not disappointed in your need to heal at a measured pace, and He is able to gently lead you back into fellowship in His timing.
God loves the community around you and He has a specific plan to reach it with His love and the message of salvation through Jesus alone. He is not looking for a forced program but for people who are in harmony with what He wants to do, who are open to His leading and willing to be instruments in His hands. He wants to invest His power in you as you yield to Him. That is where your gifts and talents find their true purpose. Like Paul when he entered a new town, it helps to take time to listen, to seek the mind of the Lord, and to take small steps as He opens doors, rather than pressuring yourself to do everything at once.
Do not be discouraged if progress feels slow or if you feel weak. The apostle encouraged believers not to faint because of tribulation, remembering that God uses even hard seasons for glory. The Lord can use your story of healing to encourage others, but first He wants to strengthen you in His presence.
Let me pray for you. Father, thank you for this dear one who is seeking you with a sincere heart. Thank you for the work you have already begun in bringing healing from trauma and for the desire to use gifts for your glory. I ask that you would give a fresh sense of boldness and confident access into your presence through the blood of Jesus. Fill this heart with your Holy Spirit and give courage to take the next steps out of isolation and into healthy community as you lead. Guide to the right fellowship where your word is taught faithfully and where love is genuine. Provide opportunities to use gifts in a way that builds others up and brings glory to Jesus, in whose name alone we have salvation. Bring continued healing, peace, and hope for the blessings to come, and help this life to be a testimony of your restoring power. Amen.
The Scripture teaches that boldness is not something we work up in ourselves. In Christ we have boldness and confident access to God through faith in Him. There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, and through His blood we can enter into the very presence of God with confidence. That means you do not have to earn your way back or prove yourself worthy to draw near. Because of what Jesus has done, you can come boldly to the Father just as you are, even while you are still healing from trauma, and find mercy and grace to help.
The early followers of Jesus understood this. When they faced threats and felt their own weakness, they did not pray for the difficulty to be removed. They prayed, Lord grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word, and God answered by filling them and giving them power to speak with courage. When people saw the boldness of Peter and John, they were amazed because those men were considered ordinary and unlearned, yet they spoke with confidence that clearly came from having been with Jesus. Your boldness will come the same way, not from feeling strong in yourself, but from spending time in the presence of Jesus and remembering that He is with you.
It is also understandable that after severe trauma, isolation can feel safer. In ancient times those with leprosy were pushed outside the community and had to live apart and warn others to stay away. That kind of separation was painful and dehumanizing. Jesus was the one who drew near to those isolated ones, touched them and restored them to community. He does the same today. He is not disappointed in your need to heal at a measured pace, and He is able to gently lead you back into fellowship in His timing.
God loves the community around you and He has a specific plan to reach it with His love and the message of salvation through Jesus alone. He is not looking for a forced program but for people who are in harmony with what He wants to do, who are open to His leading and willing to be instruments in His hands. He wants to invest His power in you as you yield to Him. That is where your gifts and talents find their true purpose. Like Paul when he entered a new town, it helps to take time to listen, to seek the mind of the Lord, and to take small steps as He opens doors, rather than pressuring yourself to do everything at once.
Do not be discouraged if progress feels slow or if you feel weak. The apostle encouraged believers not to faint because of tribulation, remembering that God uses even hard seasons for glory. The Lord can use your story of healing to encourage others, but first He wants to strengthen you in His presence.
Let me pray for you. Father, thank you for this dear one who is seeking you with a sincere heart. Thank you for the work you have already begun in bringing healing from trauma and for the desire to use gifts for your glory. I ask that you would give a fresh sense of boldness and confident access into your presence through the blood of Jesus. Fill this heart with your Holy Spirit and give courage to take the next steps out of isolation and into healthy community as you lead. Guide to the right fellowship where your word is taught faithfully and where love is genuine. Provide opportunities to use gifts in a way that builds others up and brings glory to Jesus, in whose name alone we have salvation. Bring continued healing, peace, and hope for the blessings to come, and help this life to be a testimony of your restoring power. Amen.
