In her wonderful book 'Healing the Soul of a Woman', Joyce Meyer wrote:
'The painless path is not the best one to look for, because even if you found one, you probably wouldn't end up where you wanted to go. I deeply appreciate the life I have now because it was painful to acquire. It required effort, diligence, and willingness to keep going when everything in me wanted to quit. My healing from abuse and the wounds that resulted was not a quick thing. It took a lot longer than I thought it would and was harder than I expected it to be, but I don't have the words suitable to tell you how wonderful and enjoyable it is.'
Joyce Meyer is a woman I greatly admire and respect because she has overcome many things, any one of which would have destroyed most people. She has gone on to enjoy a rich life that is successful and generous on every level. I had the privilege of hearing her speak at the NEC Birmingham when she visited from the U.S.A. in 2004.
Over the Cliff Edge
The particular words she has written here really resonate with me, when she says of the healing of her soul, that It took a lot longer than I thought it would and was harder than I expected it to be. One of the most pivotal days of my life was on 28th April 2007 when I was at the Kinesiology Federation Conference in the aptly named area of Clifton in Bristol. I remember looking over the sharp drop on the other side of the stone wall as I rang my friend Liz and begged her not to hang up when she said she was busy just then. I was in a state of shock as events that morning had left me feeling as if my life was going over a cliff and plunging into destruction. I felt as though it was the end of my world as I knew it. I was right.
I thought I'd lost everything that mattered to me and had no idea how I would make it through the rest of the day, let alone see any kind of worthwhile future. I'm not sure how many years it took to fully realise it, but that day was the best thing that could have happened to me. Sometimes the most painful experience that you go through, turns out to be your gateway to freedom and deliverance.
Up on the Mountain Top
When our old life breaks down, suddenly or slowly, it can be because it was based on broken foundations and was built up by unsound structures. As we pull ourselves out of the rubble we are often wounded and bewildered. The journey away from the wreckage, and into a safe place, can be a time of shock and exhaustion. It can be a long, hard climb to reach a better place of living in freedom and peace. It can seem like a long, hard road when you look back and see how much you've had to go through. Then one day you somehow sense a shift in the atmosphere. You notice something is different now. Maybe you have more energy, or you just had a good laugh with someone, or you look really well for a change, or you have more money in your account. You realise, as you look around you, that you have reached the top of the mountain at last. Things are clearer here.
You are no longer the tired and wounded person you used to be. You don't react to things the way you used to. Because you now respond in a different way, life is heading in a better direction. The stuff you once craved, or envied in others, is now something you would not want at all. You are changed. The painful twists, turns and cuts have shaped you into the amazing person that was hidden under the muck that this world throws at people. The journey of true transformation is not an easy one, and is probably impossible to endure on your own. Joyce Meyer attributes her own metamorphosis to her walk with God. I can also testify to the fact that my old patterns and ways of living would have completely destroyed me, had I not chosen to take another path. When I decided, in November 1999, to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life by taking the Christian path, I'm glad I didn't know how long and hard my road to freedom, peace and joy would be. I don't have the glittering success or rich fulfilment that I see in Joyce Meyer, but I see myself on a clear road now, as I live a better life than I ever have before. The journey of healing your soul is well worth it. Keep going. Come and join us.
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I read Joyce’s book in April 2019. I found it deeply moving and a source of wisdom, peace & healing. To see details of ‘Healing the Soul of a Woman’ by Joyce Meyer, click HERE
