Many are the Afflictions, But God

By Sheila Renese Walls

Have you ever asked yourself “Why am I always so angry?”, “What am I hiding from?”, “Why do I hurt inside?” Maybe you find yourself questioning “Where was God when I needed Him?” Questions that linger in your mind daily; taunting you emotionally as you struggle tirelessly to find answers; answers that we search for in all the wrong places and in all the wrong people.

In Many are the Afflictions, but God author Sheila Walls candidly shares true life experiences that will help put you on the right track in your journey of self-discovery and healing. Discover God’s true purpose in our daily lives as He reveals our deepest issues including:
•hiding our issues behind a materialistic mask
•low self-image and self-worth
•shame
•misdirected bereavement
•family violence
It is in our afflictions, Sheila says, that God shows up and reveals Himself. He offers us a comforting place to process our issues, doubts and fears. The moment we face our issues and realize their purpose, God, with His loving mercy, can help us heal, deal, be true to our past and then use it for His glory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sheila Renese Walls
• Release date: Mar 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311359476

Sheila Renese Walls

Sheila Renese Walls is a passionate communicator and women's empowerment enthusiast who is making a positive impact in the lives of women and young teens in the DFW area. She is the founder of Get P.O.S.H Ministry, Inc. a non profit organization empowering women and teen girls and author of the book Many are the Afflictions, but God.Sheila's journey has given her a passion for women who are striving to get out of their unfortunate situation and become the best that they can be. She has lived through the emotionally debilitating moments of low self-image and suffering with misguided self-identity in the past.In 2013, after coming to a humbling yet empowering realization of her own issues as a young teen, she began to develop Get P.O.S.H Ministry. She believes that God has positioned and ordained every woman with destiny and purpose and that He has also ordered the steps she needs to fulfill them! This belief led to her penning her first self published book; Many are the Afflictions, but God. A book that gives a transparent and intimate look into her life revealing to the reader how God has been and will always be in every stage of our lives; even in our afflictions.

Book preview

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?

~Rose Kennedy

Writing this book has been a long time coming. Wondering why the Lord won’t stop the hands of time so I can have time to sit down and begin to write. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen!

But here it is! What I consider to be the first of many seasons in my life written on paper. A life that will be considered interesting to some, curious to others, and prayerfully a life that will become a blessing to all. As you turn these pages you will find that God loves us all at every age and at every season in our lives. He desires that we live productively and victoriously through Him. You will also find that struggles and adversities are not prejudice. It doesn’t prefer old over young, black over white or saved versus the non-saved. Struggles and adversities visit us all.

Thankfully, it is through all our sufferings and afflictions that we begin to see God for who He really is. Like His footprints in the sand, we see Him carrying us through to the finish line to claim victory against the enemy just in the moment that we were thinking He has left us all alone. It is then that He begins to reveal himself to us like never before. It is then that He works through us to touch others; to touch a nation. It is right at that point that we can look back and say that yes, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but thank you God for delivering me from them all! (Ps. 34:19)

The following pages are laced with years of pain, a sea of tears, and moments of loneliness in the process of discovering who I am to a place that has been replaced with a life of joy, laughter and a future full of hope, prosperity and purpose. Satan’s lies are uncovered, his tactics are exposed and his time has come to a resounding end. Journey with me; as this is only the beginning…

In the Beginning, God created Sheila…

Girl: You think you are so cute don’t you!?

Me: No sweetie, the problem is that you know that I’m cute and you have a problem with that.

Girl: Excuse me? I don’t think so.

Me: "Yeah, you’re right, excuse YOU. Anyway, what do my looks have to do with anything?"

Girl: Because I don’t like the way you are looking at me!

Me: "Well Daahhlin, if you weren’t looking at me you wouldn’t know I was looking at you, IF I was looking at you… which I wasn’t!"

Girl: I tell you what, why don’t you just get out my face!

Me: Fine with me sweetheart, because once I never knew you, so I sho’ won’t miss ya now!

You’re probably wondering what is all that about!? So was I at the time. Looking back, that was an all too familiar scene that was played out quite frequently during most of my teen life. I was always defending myself from my peers who gathered their opinions and pre-conceived ideas about me based on my facial expressions or body language. Usually these situations weren’t handled properly by me. Correction, most times they weren’t handled properly by me. I would always respond in a negative manner- very defensively, very rude and straight from the hip. I didn’t care who I hurt or damaged when I would respond. I felt that I would have rather crawled in a hole than to let my guard down and allow someone else the pleasure of getting away with being mean to me.

That defensiveness was my security blanket, my weapon, my protection. It was the only way I knew how to protect myself at the time. And before long it would become a integral part of who I was and I hated it with a passion. I was becoming my very own enemy.

What you may not know is that I was a small framed teenager. A lightweight as some would call it. I was called skinny, boney, anorexic and any other name that would describe a thin young girl. And add to that, I was painfully shy. I didn’t talk much and I wasn’t an outgoing person. I’ve since learned my personality type is that of an introvert; but we’ll discuss that more in a later chapter.

Early on I knew that because of my size I didn't want to fight, but I also knew I couldn't let them win. In the neighborhood where I grew up on the Southside of Fort Worth, Texas you couldn't let them see you sweat! So having a quick witted tongue (that I inherited from parents) came in handy and I quickly learned to master it.

Most of the time a part of me would be so angry for allowing myself to act like that. I would ask myself time and time again how I could be so nonchalant about verbally hurting others just because they were mean to me. Why was I so defensive? Had I been abused, mistreated or reared in a broken home? Why didn't I care? Questions I constantly asked myself.

Through my relationship with Jesus Christ I’m slowly beginning to discover the answers to those questions. God is restoring everything that the enemy was trying to divert me from since my youth. He has given me my joy back for life, friendships and relationships. Through His Word I have found the answers to many of the unanswered questions I had as a teen growing up. Unanswered questions of abuse, mistreatment, or why I was so bitter will be revealed when you look beyond this fleshly man, beyond the person you see in the mirror every morning, beyond your afflictions.

Through His Word you will discover that God can and he will deliver you just as He has and will continue to deliver me. Not only will God deliver us, but we will come out of this thing unharmed and physically intact! Just as beautiful as we were before we went into the situation. When we come to know who we are in Him, His blessings will overtake us and our confidence will begin to soar.

THE SPIRIT OF SHONDA

It’s only words… unless it’s true

~ David Mamet

I preached a message about a fictitious female character who I named Shonda. She came to me in a dream that God had given me many months before I ever spoke of her. It’s such a blessing to me how God will use whatever means necessary to minister to you about your own situation and then allow you to share it with others! I’m always amazed! Anyway, I searched the word of God as it related to this dream and allowed myself to envision her as a living, breathing woman. A woman who could very well exist today. She became very real