If #metoo could become #notme
“You’re not seeing the whole picture. There’s a much bigger, broader picture. A battle that’s raging, an enemy that’s fighting the truth.”
It’s the Voice, and I’m listening.
“For when the truth is exposed, he’s lost his power, and that’s why he (satan) fights it.”
At my back, a cheerful, flowered pillow in colors that shout “happy.” Shout “spring.” My legs are curled beneath the Blanket of Wonder, and the coffee is warm in my hands.
“You’re fighting strongholds, but I am with you.”
At 50 years of age, there’s a lot that I don’t know, haven’t learned. But there’s a whole lot that I do know by now and that I have finally learned–about God and myself and other people. With great trepidation, I have finally decided to mention one of them today.
I’ve learned that what happened to me was sexual abuse. (I am not willing to give any qualifiers or details right now but this; that it happened, and that it mattered.) Thus, when the #metoo movement swept through, I paid attention, but didn’t feel the need to join in, to speak up. I simply took note of the current, understood that multitudes had suffered, and held my silence, kept my peace beneath His wings.
But back to the words from this morning. “A battle. An enemy. Great strongholds.”
What came to me in the silence was this: “What if #metoo would become #notme?” What if that?
What if, no matter what has happened to me, I would be the girl who plants her feet, sets her face like a flint, and says, “No more. It stops here. Not me!”
What if I’d choose to break ancient bondages and chains and refuse to stay bound a moment longer? #notme
What if I’d choose a new course? Choose forgiveness and love? Reject old avoidance and fear? #notme
What if I’d choose faith, refuse to live in fear’s prison? Refuse to live safe and stay silent? #notme
What if I’d choose to step toward others who are messy and different, neither ignoring nor shying away? #notme
There’s not a-one of us living here who haven’t been hurt in some way. Not one. All of us could say #metoo when it comes to suffering and pain. Every one.
What if my #metoo and your own #metoo became #notme and #Iwill? What if that?
If the evil we’ve suffered would stir our resolve for a holy, Christ-fueled “not me,” we’d change the world. If the evil we’ve suffered would stir our resolve for a holy, Christ-fueled, “I will,” we’d turn the world upside down. Just like a few apostles in Acts 17.
Can you hear it? Can you feel it? Feel the power, hear the roar? It’s time for our shaking and great awakening.
Maranatha! Let it come, and let it start now with me.
For Him,
FacebookTwitterGoogle+DiggPinterestBlogger