Kim Peters, an Inner Healing Facilitator at Rising Above, shares a beautiful message of hope in the brokenness.
"Most of the time I feel so rewarded by the work I do at Rising Above. Most of the time it is uplifting and fills my spirit with such hope. Not only hope for me, but hope for others. I am often encouraged, even in the hard moments, it still feels hopeful.
From time to time I get a wave of difficulty. Not difficulty in the way I feel I can’t continue doing God’s work, a wave that reminds me how broken the world is. The wave often feels hopeless. Hopeless in that the world will not change, that things are always getting worse. I know Jesus heals those who are broken, those who call on him even with an ounce of faith, they will be healed. I am never without hope because of him.
Recently we had a number of our previous participants pass away from drug-related deaths. Those who had received healing and found faith and hope in who Jesus is. The sting of losing them lingers in our hearts, the war outside of our doors is stronger than ever. It is not a safe place for those who do not have hope, and sometimes not safe for those who do. I prayed that God would continue to lead the broken-hearted, the hurting and the lost to Rising Above, I continued to pray that people would find refuge here.
The wave…. An enormous amount of wounds caused from childhood trauma have poured out and into our doors. I feel God’s presence, knowing this is his work, and he will find a way. This work can be very uplifting and filled with encouraging days. But sometimes, there is a heaviness and a huge amount of grief for those who have lost so much to trauma and sin in our world. As staff, there are days we don’t always feel 100% ready for the task before us. We know God will equip us and strengthen us as we move forward in what he has called us to do.
Last week, the heaviness seemed to follow me. It is not often I feel the weight of others' trauma (a gift from God). Last week seemed to be one person, one story, one broken, wounded life after another. Those carrying the weight, with no hope. I felt tired, almost weak, saddened by the lives these people were forced to live with no control of their own. I spent my 20-minute drive home praying and giving it all to Jesus. I was reminded of the song Desert Road by Casting Crowns. As I began listening to this song, I felt the words in my soul. By no mistake, it timed perfectly with the fact I was driving on a rough gravel road, where leaves were falling and the fields beside me were brown and looking a little hopeless. The words, “where you lead me, I will follow, I will walk with them as you walk with me” I came to an intersection and the sun was shining so perfectly across a green field lined with still green trees, as the wind moved the grasses and the leaves, I just sat there, parked, staring in awe of what God had just spoke into my life, my heart, and my mind. Sometimes the bigger picture is hard to see, but that desert road that seems so hopeless for those I walk with is only leading to a field so full of life, hope, and beauty. It is my job to keep the hope, and hold their hand because I know what comes next!
I was called 11 years ago to Rising Above. God not only blessed me and healed so many areas of my life by being a part of this ministry. I get to allow him to lead me as I follow him to the places some can not walk alone. I will continue to hold their hands. I will continue to hold on to the bigger picture. When I let go of their hand in that big beautiful field, filled with hope, and life, I will turn around and start back at the beginning with the next soul in need. Jesus has sustained me, and will continue to do so. There is freedom from pain, there is hope in a new future. There is healing from things unimaginable to some of us. Most of all… There is hope."