“How can God ever forgive me?” Through her tears, I could see the dark hold that shame and guilt had on her. Michelle had come to my home for prayer. She couldn’t seem to shake the chains of her past life. Her story involved decades of drug abuse and consequently the removal of her children from her home. Even though she had given her life to Christ, there was still such deep shame regarding her past. I have encountered many women like Michelle who struggle with shame over their stories. They have a difficult time seeing how the Lord could redeem stories littered with tragedy and brokenness.
But the truth is God redeems all of our stories: the good, the bad and the ugly. God takes what is broken and molds it into something beautiful—something that reflects His glory. This year’s SIAFU Midwest Women’s retreat’s theme is: UNASHAMED: My Story. God’s Glory. Our aim is to show women that their unique story is a part of God’s Great Story: Jesus Christ coming to redeem the world of sin and shame. Through the stories of Rahab, the woman with the issue of blood and the women at Jesus’ grave, we will emphasize how God takes unlikely people and does great things through them. From prostitute to the lineage of Christ, from sick to healed, from women whose witness was not valid in court to witnessing the greatest event of all time—the resurrection of Christ.
It can be a long journey from shame to freedom, seeing your story in light of God’s redeeming grace. It has been a few years since that afternoon Michelle came to visit me. During these past few years, she has let God heal the hurts from her past. Now she sees her story as a way to minister and reach out to others who are suffering.
In a few weeks, over one hundred women will gather at Morning Star Ranch in Kansas for our women’s retreat—women from all different backgrounds from all over Kansas and beyond. Our hope and prayer is that they will embrace their stories and see themselves as a part of God’s Great Story of redemption. We pray that they will hear Jesus’s words to the woman with issue of blood and take them deep into their hearts: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from our suffering” (Mark 5:34).
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