Overcoming the Father Wound: The Path to VictorySample

Day 8: A Childhood Stolen

Scripture – Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

In past devotionals we have talked about various forms of abuse and trauma that men face – from the Average Joe to some well-known names in both the Christian and secular world. Sometimes tragic events can happen very early on and so change a person’s entire life, unexpectedly and dramatically. Consider the biblical story of Joseph, whose amazing life journey is covered in Genesis, chapters 37 to 50. We briefly summarize here:

Joseph was favored by his father Jacob, who gave him a coat of many colors. Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more so they hated him. His brothers later conspired against him and sold him into slavery to traveling merchants, for twenty shekels of silver (see Genesis 37:3-28).

Joseph then found himself in a strange country, deprived from the position of a loved son in a wealthy home, and lowered to the social status of a slave. How humiliating! But God was still at his side to bless and to prosper his life. After that –

·Joseph was falsely accused of rape, and went from slave to prisoner!

·He interpreted dreams while locked up, and yet completely forgotten by those he had helped

·Two long, lonely years passed – finally God gave Pharoah a dream that only Joseph could interpret – and he was then elevated to becoming second in command of the most powerful nation in the world at the time!

·When through a famine, he finally got to see his brothers once again, it was a very emotional time – would he take vengeance (his right) – or forgive?

Joseph’s entire childhood was stolen by the jealousy and anger of his unrighteous brothers. He went through a difficult and painful separation from everything he knew – but he was never forgotten by God! Ultimately, God redeemed and restored all of Joseph’s pain, and worked everything out for his good, his family’s good, and for the salvation of an entire nation from famine. What was the key to Joseph’s amazing restoration and elevation – his willingness to FORGIVE. Read the “rest of the story” in Genesis 45 to 50. You may well shed some tears as you read – and that’s perfectly okay with God!

Perhaps you feel like your childhood was stolen - perhaps by some form of abuse or neglect. Childhood trauma events often create a wound in a man’s soul which is so deep and so profound, that it takes God and His Amazing Grace to cleanse, heal, repair and ultimately restore. Emotionally damaged parents almost inevitably produce emotionally damaged children. Put simply, “hurt people hurt people”. It’s not your fault.

Is your soul stuck in a place of bitterness over your past? So was ancient Israel – but God provided! Check out these powerful verses from Exodus 15:

22 …For three days [ the Israelites ] traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) [ Marah means ‘bitter’]. 24 So the people grumbled against Moses…

25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

The piece of wood represents the Cross. Just as God provided a solution for them – he can do the same for you. Today can be your day to break the cycle!

Prayer:

“Father, you said you would make all things new, if I trust in you. I surrender all my bitterness to you. Restore me, and make me every bit whole. Amen”.