Courage, Dear Heart

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). If anyone knew anything about Satan’s war against us, it was Peter. And if you know Peter’s journey, then you know that more often than not he stumbled and fell in the midst of those battles…just like so many of us. That’s why I love Peter so much – he’s so incredibly relatable. The ups and downs in his journey showcase a man who truly loved Jesus with all of his heart, yet his humanness got in the way. This was a man who went from denying Jesus as He was being crucified for our sins – for Peter’s sins – to a man who stood in front of the Sanhedrin (a council which literally held the power of life and death over Peter’s head) and said, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help but speak about what we have seen and heard ” (Acts 4:19, NIV). Peter’s journey through his own humanness ...

I have been watching the limited series on Netflix, “Unbelievable.” And let me tell you – my blood is boiling. If you aren’t familiar to the series, it’s based on a true story where a young woman was bullied into recanting a true rape statement by the police and family members. Finally, years later, proof came out that she had been telling the truth. She was able to sue the state, but the emotional damage had been done. She lost all of her friends and family. And I couldn’t help but think… I have been her. I have been the girl who decided to go to the police. I have sat while a detective questioned my story over and over again, with not-so-veiled blaming statements such as, “If you knew he was abusive, why would you get in the car with him?” I have been the girl who was accused of lying, not just by a friend, but by almost every single person on my college campus, including my two best friends, who actually took my abuser’s side – a man who’d sexually assaulted me the night ...