Christ Will Rescue You

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Why Do I Keep Going Back?

One of the hardest questions a woman may ask herself after leaving an abusive relationship is, “Why do I keep going back?” Sometimes she goes back because she still loves him. Sometimes she goes back because she remembers the good times and believes the person she fell in love with is still somewhere underneath the hurt. Sometimes there are children, finances, nowhere else to live, or the fear of starting over. And sometimes he apologizes, promises that things will be different, and for a while, they are. None of this means she is stupid or weak. Abuse can create a complicated cycle that is difficult to break, especially when love and fear have become mixed together. We have to be careful not to look at a woman who has returned and ask, “What is wrong with her?” A better question may be, “What has she been carrying that we cannot see?”

Jesus sees what other people can’t. He sees the fear, the confusion, the hope, the disappointment, and the part of her that still wants to believe things can be different. He doesn’t need her to pretend that everything is okay. Psalm 34:18 (NLT) says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” There is something powerful about knowing that God doesn’t turn His back on us when we are hurting or when we have made decisions we wish we could change. Jesus meets us right where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there. His love doesn’t require us to remain in a place where we are continually being harmed.

Sometimes a woman keeps going back because she has begun to believe that this is the best she can expect from love. After being criticized, controlled, threatened, or made to feel worthless for long enough, it can become difficult to remember who you were before all of that. But Jesus tells us the truth about who we are. John 8:36 (NKJV) says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Freedom doesn’t mean that every part of your life will suddenly become easy. It may take time, help, counseling, practical support, and people who will walk beside you. But freedom begins when you stop believing that someone else's treatment of you determines your worth. You belong to Christ, and what He says about you matters more than what an abusive person has said about you.

And if you have gone back before, you don’t have to believe that you have ruined your chance to make a different choice. You can ask God for wisdom, courage, and direction for what comes next. James 1:5 (NLT) says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.” Sometimes God helps us directly through His Word and the Holy Spirit, and sometimes He helps us through other people—trusted family members, godly counselors, advocates, pastors, or others who can help us see clearly and make a safe plan. You do not have to figure everything out in one day. But you can begin telling the truth about what is happening and asking God to show you your next step.

If you keep going back, please don't let shame convince you that Jesus has given up on you. He hasn't. But His grace is not an invitation to keep returning to what is destroying you. Jesus is not asking you to prove your love by enduring abuse. He is calling you toward truth, wisdom, and life. Psalm 147:3 (NLT) says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Healing may take time, and the road may not look the same for every woman. But you can bring every part of your life to Jesus—the parts you're proud of and the parts you wish you could change. You can ask Him for wisdom today, take the next safe step, and trust Him to meet you there. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Don’t Dim Your Light to Keep Others Comfortable

John 3:20-21(NLT)

“20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

Learning to Recognize What God Is Showing You

God has given every believer the ability to recognize what is good and what is evil, and to discern what belongs to His Kingdom and what does not. We have this ability because His Spirit lives within us. But having the Holy Spirit does not mean we will always make the right choice. We still have a flesh that wants its own way, and we still have to choose whether we will obey God or give in to what feels good, familiar, or difficult to let go. 1Corinthians 3:16 tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Living God, and the Spirit of God dwells within us. That should change the way we live.

We have access to the wisdom and direction of the Holy Spirit, but we have to be willing to listen and obey. Sometimes we know exactly what God is showing us, but we don't want to act on it because obedience may require us to change something we have become comfortable with. This can be especially true when God begins dealing with the people we have allowed into our inner circle.

Love does not require us to ignore what is harmful. Grace does not require us to call wrong behavior right. And forgiveness does not mean giving someone unrestricted access to hurt us again. The Holy Spirit can help us recognize what does not belong in our lives, but we must be willing to listen when He does.

When the People Closest to Us Begin to Affect Our Walk with God

For single women, this is an area where we have to be especially careful. 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NKJV) says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” God is not telling us to isolate ourselves from people who do not believe as we do. The issue is influence and what we are allowing someone to become in our lives. There is a difference between loving someone and becoming bound to a relationship that continually pulls us away from God.

This is especially important in romantic relationships. A woman who desires a marriage where Jesus Christ is Head cannot ignore the spiritual direction, character, and behavior of the man she is considering building her life with. Love should not require us to compromise what we believe, silence our concerns, live in fear, or continually excuse behavior we know is wrong.

Sometimes the people closest to us can cause us to second-guess convictions God has already established in our hearts. In an abusive relationship, manipulation, intimidation, and control can make it even harder to trust what we know. It may seem like a tangled web, but if we ask, God will give us wisdom. James 1:5 (NKJV) says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.” There are relationships we have to recognize for what they are, boundaries we may need to establish, and sometimes doors we have to close. Our loving Heavenly Father will help us to live free.

Don’t Let Another Voice Become Louder Than God’s

1Thessalonians 5:5(NLT) says, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” Jesus Christ never compromised the truth to make people comfortable. He recognized when people were trying to manipulate or trap Him, and He did not allow their behavior to pull Him away from what God had called Him to do.

Jesus stayed in prayer and communion with the Father. He knew who He was, who sent Him, and what He had been sent to accomplish. We need that same spiritual clarity. Especially when someone has repeatedly manipulated, controlled, intimidated, or caused us to question ourselves, we cannot afford to let another person's voice become louder than what God is saying to us through His Word and His Spirit.

Jesus Christ told the Pharisees in John 8:43-45(NLT), “43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!”

Jesus did not allow their rejection of the truth to make Him question the truth. That is something we need to learn. People may not understand the changes God is making in you. They may not agree with your boundaries. They may even accuse you of thinking you are better than them because you have decided to live differently. But walking in obedience is not the same thing as thinking you are better than somebody else.

We can love people without following them, care about people without allowing them to control our direction, and pray for people without joining them in choices that God has told us to avoid.

We must open our eyes and recognize what God is showing us as we learn to stand in the light of Christ. We don’t need to shrink ourselves spiritually so that other people can remain comfortable around us. And we don’t need to hide what the Father is doing in our lives.

As we grow in Christ, some relationships may change. Some friendships may become more distant. Some romantic relationships may have to end. And yes, there may be people we have to leave behind. That is not always easy, and for someone dealing with abuse, leaving may require wisdom, support, and a plan for safety. But when we listen to His voice, God will help us every step of the way.

We are children of the light. We belong to Christ. So let the light He has placed within you become brighter as you grow in Him. Don't dim your light to keep somebody else comfortable in their darkness. ■

“Don’t Dim Your Light to Keep Others Comfortable”, written by Kim for https://DomesticAbuseAwareness.org© 2026. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Friday, September 11, 2026

Blessed Are Those Who Wait for Him

Trusting God When You Cannot See What He Is Doing

Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"

Waiting Can Reveal What Is in Our Hearts

There are things we carry in our hearts that weigh us down, and sometimes we don't recognize how deeply they have affected the way we think, make decisions, and respond to difficult circumstances. Fear can become so familiar that we call it wisdom. Trying to control everything can feel like being responsible. We can become accustomed to expecting the worst and call it being realistic. This is one reason God has given us the record of those who walked with Him before we came on the scene. Romans 15:4 tells us that the Scriptures were written to teach us and give us hope as we wait for God's promises to be fulfilled. The lives of those in the Old and New Testament show us people who trusted God and still struggled, made mistakes, became afraid, and sometimes tried to take matters into their own hands. Yet God continued to teach them, correct them, and strengthen their faith.

Abraham Had to Learn to Trust God

Abraham is one of the clearest examples we have of what it means to grow in our trust in God. He was seventy-five years old when God called him and promised to make him the father of a great nation, but Abraham was about one hundred years old when Isaac was born. That's a long time to hold on to a promise, especially when everything you can see tells you it isn't going to happen. Abraham believed God, but believing didn't mean that he never struggled with fear or doubt. There were times when he looked at his circumstances and responded to what he saw instead of what God had said. He misrepresented Sarah as his sister because he was afraid he would be killed because of her beauty, and Sarah eventually became so discouraged with waiting that she tried to bring God's promise to pass another way through Hagar. They had faith, but their faith had to grow. And I think that's something we need to understand. We can genuinely believe God and still have areas of our lives where we haven't learned to trust Him completely. The waiting has a way of exposing those places. What we do when we're afraid, when nothing seems to be changing, and when God's timing doesn't agree with ours can tell us a great deal about where we still need to grow in our trust in Him.

Fear Can Make Us Reach for Our Own Solutions

Fear has a way of convincing us that we have to do something, even when we don’t know what to do. Abraham and Sarah fell into this trap. Instead of trusting God to protect them, Abraham devised a plan that involved lying about Sarah being his wife. When Sarah became tired of waiting for the child God had promised, she came up with a plan of her own. We can read their record thousands of years later and clearly see where they went wrong, but it isn’t always so easy to recognize when we are doing the same thing. We pray and ask God for direction, but when the answer doesn’t come as quickly as we would like, we start trying to work things out ourselves.

Proverbs 3:5–6 (NLT) tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his Will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Trusting God does not mean that we do nothing. It means that we seek His wisdom before we move and that we refuse to allow fear, desperation, loneliness, or impatience to make our decisions for us. This is especially important when we are dealing with circumstances that are harmful or dangerous. God does not require us to remain in danger to prove that we trust Him. We can seek help, tell the truth about what is happening, and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves while continuing to seek God for His wisdom and direction.

Our Confidence Must Be in God

Romans 4:20–21 (NLT) tells us that Abraham “never wavered in believing God’s promise” and that he became “fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.” This was the faith of a man who had walked with God and learned some things about His faithfulness. Abraham’s confidence was no longer in what he could see or what he could figure out on his own. His confidence was in God. This is where our confidence must be as well. We should always be willing to examine ourselves before the Lord, and when the Holy Spirit reveals something in us that needs to change, we should be humble enough to receive His correction. But we must not make the mistake of believing that every hardship or prolonged difficulty in our lives is evidence that we haven’t had enough faith. God was faithful when Abraham was seventy-five, and He was still faithful when Abraham was one hundred. Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) tells us, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” Our circumstances may change, and there may be times when we don’t understand what God is doing, but His character does not change.

Trust Him While You Wait

Isaiah 30:18 (NLT) says, “So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” Waiting for God is not about sitting still while life falls apart around us. Neither is it about trying to manipulate circumstances until we get the outcome we want. It is about trusting God enough to seek Him, listen to Him, obey Him, and allow Him to lead us. There may be something He wants us to stop doing, something we need to confront, somewhere we need to go for help, or something within our own hearts that needs to change. We cannot decide ahead of time what His direction must look like. We simply have to be willing to follow it. God sees what we cannot see, He knows what we do not know, and He loves us far too much to leave us where we are. So while we wait, we keep seeking Him. We keep growing. We keep obeying. And most importantly, we keep our confidence in the One who has promised never to leave or forsake us.■

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

A Fully Surrendered Life

Try as we might, none of us will ever get away from the reality that what we believe about God will eventually show up in what we believe about ourselves and how we live. If we see God as distant, unreliable, or uninvolved, we will live as though everything depends on us. But when we know Him as our Creator, our Father, our Provider, and the One who has called us according to His purpose, we begin to understand that we were never expected to manufacture a meaningful life on our own. We can do what God has called us to do because He has already provided what we need to walk in His Will.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” That verse says a whole lot about who we are and why we are here. God is our Creator. He engineered our design. He knew exactly what He was doing when He shaped and formed us, and through Jesus Christ, He has made us new. We are not random people wandering around the earth trying to come up with a purpose for ourselves. God had purpose in mind before we ever took our first breath.

Doing good comes standard with our packaging. We have been recreated in Christ Jesus and empowered through the Holy Spirit to live in a way that expresses the goodness, love, wisdom, and character of God. This does not mean that everything we do will automatically be right, nor does it mean that surrender comes naturally to us. We still have a flesh nature that wants its own way. We still have opinions, desires, fears, habits, and plans that can compete with what God wants. This is precisely why surrender is so important. God has already prepared the good works, but we must be willing to yield ourselves to Him so that He can lead us into them.

Romans 12:1 (NLT) tells us, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

A fully surrendered life says, “Father, I belong to You. My life belongs to You. My gifts belong to You. My plans, my relationships, my desires, my future—all of it belongs to You.” That kind of surrender is not weakness, and it certainly is not losing yourself. It is finally placing your life into the hands of the One who knows what it was created to become. The more we surrender to God, the less energy we waste fighting to make life conform to our own limited understanding, and the freer we become to walk in what He planned for us long ago.

But we also have to understand what Godly surrender is—and what it is not—because when surrender is misunderstood, we can find ourselves yielding to things God never asked us to accept.

We need to be very clear about what surrender means, especially when we are dealing with domestic violence and abuse. Surrendering our lives to God does not mean surrendering ourselves to the abuse of another person. God did not create us in Christ Jesus, call us His masterpiece, and give us His Holy Spirit so that another human being could control, intimidate, degrade, or destroy us. There is a tremendous difference between surrendering to God and being controlled by a person. Sometimes we get these things mixed up because we’ve been taught that being a good Christian means enduring whatever comes our way without complaint. We have been told to forgive, submit, pray, and trust God, and all of those things are biblical. But none of them give another person permission to abuse us. Our surrender belongs to God.

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) tells us, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” God knows what abuse does to a person. He knows what it is like when you have been talked down to so much that you begin to question your own judgment. He knows what fear does when you have lived with it day after day. He knows when you have covered things up, made excuses, blamed yourself, or kept hoping that if you could just do something differently, things would change. But notice what the Word says God does for those whose spirits have been crushed. He comes close, and He rescues. God is not asking us to call something good that is harming us. He wants us to see the truth, because we cannot surrender something to God that we refuse to acknowledge is happening.

Sometimes a fully surrendered life requires us to give God the very thing we have been holding onto with both hands. That may be the marriage we thought we would have, the person we keep hoping someone will become, our fear of starting over, our embarrassment about what people will think, or even our belief that somehow we can fix everything if we just try a little harder. We have to trust God with our whole hearts. We have to trust that He can lead us, that He can provide for us, and that He can give us wisdom for what comes next. Surrender does not mean that we will immediately know what to do or that every decision will be easy. It means that we stop making fear our master and give God permission to lead us wherever His truth takes us. A fully surrendered life belongs to Him, and when we know that we belong to God, we understand that no one else has the right to take possession of what belongs to Him. ■