Shame
It was the early 1990’s. I would have been in my mid 20’s back then. The
church I was attending at the time hosted a one-day Women’s Retreat held at a
hotel in Concord, California. I don’t remember who the special speaker was. I
just remember the deep work of healing that the Holy Spirit was doing in the
lives of the women present.
The Holy Spirit swept through the place, and women were weeping and
wailing. Women of all ages. Married and single women. God was doing a deep
Sovereign work.
Towards the end of the speaker’s message, the Lord began to
prophetically speak through her that so many of the women in that room were
wearing, as if it were, a black veil of mourning and shame. God wanted to
remove that veil and replace it with a crown of beauty. He wanted to lift off
the shame and reproach in our lives and give us a beautiful bridal veil to
wear, since He is our bridegroom and we are His bride.
Women were carrying around shame, rejection and mourning for various
reasons. For some, it was because of past or present abuse. For others, it was
the broken heart of a failed marriage or having been widowed. For some, past
immorality.
For several single women, the feelings of being alone, feeling forgotten
by God, rejection by men and living with the “stigma” of singleness because
society says that we should be married or have a boyfriend.
For a few women who were married and having a difficult time conceiving
a child, or had frequent miscarriages, they were in utter despair and grief.
The pain of having empty arms was almost too much for them to bear especially
when their friends were having babies.
Almost every woman there felt ashamed, for one reason or another, about
her appearance or body image. Even the ones who seemed to be so beautiful were
ashamed about certain things in their appearance. There were so many reasons
why the women in that place felt shame, rejection and mourning.
The Lord was doing such a deep work of healing that day, tenderly
holding us in His arms and whispering so gently, “I love you, you are my
beautiful bride, I will give you the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness. I will give you beauty for ashes. I am your
glory and the lifter of your head. I want to heal you and set you free. Those
who look to Me are radiant and their faces are never covered in shame. I am the
lover of your soul. I will never abandon you. I will never fail you. I long to
share sweet intimacy with you, My bride. I want to romance you, dance with you,
validate you. Only I can meet all of your needs.
Would you give Me permission to come into those secret chambers of your
heart and cleanse the deep wounds? Would you allow Me to heal the memories? I
am the Lord your healer. You are so beautiful to me, My precious jewel. Would
you allow Me complete access to your heart?”
What is shame?
In the Bible, there are many words translated as shame. The Hebrew and
Greek defines shame as:
·
To pale, to blush
·
Humiliation
·
Confusion, to be confounded
·
Dishonored or not honored
·
Reproach
·
Disgrace
·
Depised, Contempt
·
Lightly Esteem
·
Maltreat
·
To wound, to taunt, to insult
·
To expose, to defame, to rail
·
Disappointment and delay
·
To become dry
Notice that the last two definitions deal with disappointment, delay and
being dry (parched). Shame leaves a sense of desolation to the soul. (Hope
deferred also leads to feeling stripped dry.) Shame causes emotional
barrenness. The Lord wants to transform the ruins in your life into an Eden. He
wants to turn the wilderness into a land that is lush and green with pools of
refreshing water.
Shame is like a garment. The Lord wants to do a Divine exchange, and
give us a garment of righteousness and beauty to wear if we will give Him our
garment of shame. When you are ashamed, you feel bad about yourself and want to
hide. Shame can become a lifestyle, where you always want to hide, or put up a
facade so people don’t see the real you.
The Lord says, “The walls you have built to protect yourself are not
only keeping everyone else out, but also keeping Me out as well. Would you give
Me permission to get close to you without you pushing Me away, keeping Me at a
distance? Would You allow Me to go into every room of your heart?”
The Lord wants to remove that black veil of mourning, and crown our head
with a white bridal veil instead. He wants us to hold our heads high knowing
who we are in Christ. Our identity and validation comes from Him and who He
says we are. He says that we are kings and priests. He says that we are His
beautiful and radiant bride. He says that we are complete in Him.
Whatever has happened in the past, whatever mistakes you have made,
whatever injustices happened to you … it’s over with and done. The Lord is
doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Your past does not determine your
destiny. God promises to give us a double portion recompense for what we went
through.
Isaiah 61:7-8 says, “Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a
twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice
in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess double [what they
had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I the Lord love justice.”
The Lord loves justice (fairness, equity). Whatever we went through in
life that was unfair, the Lord wants to make it up to us in some way.
Isaiah 54:4-5 AMP
Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and
depressed, for you shall not be put to shame. For you shall forget the shame of
your youth, and you shall not [seriously] remember the reproach of your
widowhood any more. For your Maker is your Husband — the Lord of hosts is His
name — and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth
He is called.
Psalms 34:4-5 AMP
I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on
the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my
fears. They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for
shame or be confused.
Isaiah 60:1 AMP
Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have
kept you — rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord),
for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
For God so loved this world that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him would be saved.
The thief (Satan the devil) comes only for to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus has come to give us life, and life more abundantly, until it overflows.
I urge you to come to the Cross today and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. He will wash away all your sins and make you as clean and white as fresh snow.
Just pray this prayer and mean it with your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus (if you are not able to call him Lord yet, then just say "Jesus")
I receive You as my Savior and Lord. I give my life over to You. I believe that You died and rose again, and that if I call on the Name of the Lord I shall be saved.
I accept you into my heart right now, and confess that You are Lord and have risen from the dead and forever live to make intercession for me.
Thank You for washing my heart pure and clean and making me whole, and for giving me peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Thank You that now I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old has gone and the new has come.
And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh (carnality and sin), but walk after the Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, I believe you got born again and are now heaven bound and will be with the Lord forever and have eternal life. Your sins are now forgiven. You are accepted in the Beloved.
I would encourage you to find a good Bible based local church to help you grow in your faith, to learn the Word of God, to praise and worship Him, and to have fellowship with the saints.
Serving Christ is the best decision you will ever make.
God bless you!!!
