But God: Shake Off the Dust From Abuse, Throw Off Those Chains, & Arise

By Galia Grace

If we never leave the familiarity of the boat, we will never know the triumph of walking on water.

Now is the time to fight back. Rebuke the lies you have listened to. Just because we have heard something, does not mean we must listen to it. Yesterday is gone; tomorrow is unknown, but today is opportunity! The truth is and always will be:

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jan 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781637699652

Book preview

BUT GOD

Will you marry me?

I did say yes, but was I sure this was the right man. That inkling within, the same inkling that showed up on my wedding day; looking back, that was most definitely the Holy Spirit warning me. I did not heed the warning, and I paid the consequence for nearly the next two decades of my life. How often we want the dream but feel rushed to obtain it before due time.

Twenty-one years old, still trying to finish up my college degree, I did not want to head out that night, but my good friend persisted in asking me to go along. Fine, I replied with a little attitude. One night out in the city and I met…him. After a few drinks, our brains handicapped, all discernment goes right out the window.

I was already hearing he was an angry person. I didn’t think much of that really because aren’t we all? Recall at twenty-one years old, I was used to hanging around a bunch of college-aged friends, trying to figure out where to head on a Friday night. I became smitten quickly by the career and older age. Hey, if he was ten years older, then he must be more mature right?

I had no idea. None. The numerous assumptions I made that night were all leading me into a relationship with a narcissistic sociopath. Over the years, I pulled away from friends and family and stopped being myself until I realized, twenty years later, that I had completely forgotten who I was at all. Somehow, over time, I had been placed in a tiny little box. Shattered heart and soul, with the reminder that I was insignificant, worthless, and a f#@%ing loser.

Where to go from here? I was married with three children, and my dream of having a happy home life filled with countless loving memories was, in reality, an incredibly dark nightmare. When we are lost, the good news is: once we find out who we belong to, we do not have to face the evil alone. Grab a coffee or tea (you’re worth it), and spend some time with me. We will walk the dark cold truth together until we find exactly who we are and whose we are.

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…

(Joel 2:25, KJV)

CHAPTER ONE:

UNDONE

Somewhere along the way, I forgot who I was, and I most certainly began to question every relationship dear to me. Why do we do this? Why do we begin to question everything genuine in our lives? Why did a narcissistic sociopath choose me? So many questions, and yet, where were the answers when I still felt so confused and withdrawn from myself. I recalled that beautiful day walking around that park, calling up an old dear friend of mine. That is it. I’m leaving him. Wait for it… Are you crying?! See, my friend had known me since our college days, and her response, today, is still very clear, I have wanted you to leave this man for so long! I shouted back and asked her why she had never said anything. I didn’t want him to find out and then lose our friendship! Such truth in an abusive situation.

Allow me, in relationships with men like him, we are afraid of their anger and control, yet we crave their acceptance and attention. How do we maintain their affection? We, in turn, are trained to please them only. We do our best to keep them, not so much happy, but at a simmer, so to speak. So, over time, we begin to agree with the thoughts they have planted in our minds. They want to remove all relationships from us, so they are the one and only. Over time, little commentaries would be planted about my family and close friendships. When, if ever, do we see something resembling concern from the abuser?—Only when it benefits them in return. I would then go to the abuser with issues in all my relationships and mistake control for concern. See, if we have concern for another, it is compassion and wanting