Breaking the silence...
Silence is the enemy. Isn't it always? They say secrets don't make friends. And so we keep secrets because we think that if they knew our secrets, if we outed ourselves, we'd have no friends. We cover the hurt, the pain, the scars with forced smiles. Maybe if we took a picture, changed the filter, and added a good hashtag, we could convince ourselves that we were okay. Ourselves and everyone else. Because from the looks of the likes on their Instagram accounts, we must be the only ones hurting. The only ones feeling any pain. There is something wrong with us, but we can't let anyone know.
I remember thinking that. Thinking that I couldn't break my silence. I could only tell a few people and hope those few people kept it to themselves. Keep it quiet. Fly under the radar. No one needed to know, anyway. It's my life, not theirs. It's no one else's business. And as I told a few people, some said "Shhh." Don't say much. And while I kind of, but not really, understood where they were coming from, I also realized that the situation was speaking for itself. Saying nothing didn't matter, especially when the newspaper prints up these things for people to read. And I began to wonder if my silence was really the best way to go about life. Was it really helping anything to keep it under wraps, to keep it my little secret? I couldn't act like nothing had happened. Clearly, something had happened. And the silence, if not perceivably confirming, only raised more questions and made people wonder.
But there was this other voice, this feeling, this urge, prompting me to say something. To speak up. To share. And no matter how much I tried to ignore it, it wouldn't go away. Opportunity after opportunity presented itself and I couldn't avoid it any longer. And so I dug down deep, gathering all of my courage, and I finally said something. And then I said it again. And again and again, and I realized that the more I said it the better I felt. The more my heart healed, my shame lessened, and my courage grew. And the more I shared, the more it helped. Not just me, but it helped others, too.
Break your silence. Speak up. Don't keep it your secret. God has not healed you so that you wouldn't tell anyone. He hasn't redeemed your life so that no one else would ever find out. God has given you a story to tell. He has changed your life so that others' lives would be changed, too. He has given you a testimony, so testify. Tell others what He has done for you. Speak of His goodness. Share your scars so they can see His power and mercy. Because He "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." ( 2 Corinthians 1:4) Be a comfort. Say something. You never know how God will use it.
"For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ." - 2 Corinthians 1:5
I remember thinking that. Thinking that I couldn't break my silence. I could only tell a few people and hope those few people kept it to themselves. Keep it quiet. Fly under the radar. No one needed to know, anyway. It's my life, not theirs. It's no one else's business. And as I told a few people, some said "Shhh." Don't say much. And while I kind of, but not really, understood where they were coming from, I also realized that the situation was speaking for itself. Saying nothing didn't matter, especially when the newspaper prints up these things for people to read. And I began to wonder if my silence was really the best way to go about life. Was it really helping anything to keep it under wraps, to keep it my little secret? I couldn't act like nothing had happened. Clearly, something had happened. And the silence, if not perceivably confirming, only raised more questions and made people wonder.
But there was this other voice, this feeling, this urge, prompting me to say something. To speak up. To share. And no matter how much I tried to ignore it, it wouldn't go away. Opportunity after opportunity presented itself and I couldn't avoid it any longer. And so I dug down deep, gathering all of my courage, and I finally said something. And then I said it again. And again and again, and I realized that the more I said it the better I felt. The more my heart healed, my shame lessened, and my courage grew. And the more I shared, the more it helped. Not just me, but it helped others, too.
Break your silence. Speak up. Don't keep it your secret. God has not healed you so that you wouldn't tell anyone. He hasn't redeemed your life so that no one else would ever find out. God has given you a story to tell. He has changed your life so that others' lives would be changed, too. He has given you a testimony, so testify. Tell others what He has done for you. Speak of His goodness. Share your scars so they can see His power and mercy. Because He "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." ( 2 Corinthians 1:4) Be a comfort. Say something. You never know how God will use it.
"For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ." - 2 Corinthians 1:5
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