Stepping Out of the Shadow of Shame

In looking at the shadow of shame I am reminded of a story author Max Lucado tells about that took place in the early seventies. One sunny summer afternoon two sisters were abducted by two men as they came out of a convenience store in Casper Wyoming. The two men drove the two girls to a canyon bridge, where they brutally beat and raped the older sister. Somehow she talked the men out of doing the same to her younger sister.

When these men finished with their crime, they threw both girls over the bridge that hung suspended one hundred and twelve feet above the canyon river.

The younger sister was killed instantly. The older sister, landing in deeper water, swam to shore and wedged herself between two large rocks, shivering violently from fear as much as from the cold. The next day she was rescued. The next day her wounds were treated. Her kidnappers were arrested tried and sentenced, but she was never able to escape that canyon of darkness.

Nineteen years later, the older sister drove back to that same bridge. With her two year old daughter and boyfriend at her side, she sat at the edge of that bridge and wept. She looked over that canyon that she was never able to escape, reliving the horror of those hours. The boyfriend thought it best to take the daughter to the car. That’s when he heard the splash of shallow water. She had finally surrendered to the canyon that had so cruelly branded her soul, sacrificing herself on the jagged stones of the past.

Sadly, there are a lot of people like the older sister , who have not escaped the shadow of shame. Many still find themselves wandering around canyons of hopelessness, shame, and guilt. They may have been flung over that precipice through their own wrong choices or through the evil choices of others. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how they got there. If they stay, the result is the same-death; death to dreams, hope, and to the future.

At best they become the walking wounded, spiritually limping through life. Allowing the past to poison their minds and every relationship they have. As much as they try to outrun those tormenting thoughts, they find themselves driving back to that bridge, looking out over the canyon in their minds, paying some sort of twisted homage by reliving the hurt, failure, and disappointment again, and again, and again. As if by rehearsing it, the sordid story will come out differently. What are the things in your past that you have had difficulty overcoming?

The truth of the matter is Jesus deeply knows our pain. He even knows the weight of our guilt and shame. Today we have the opportunity to escape that canyon of hopelessness.

The moment we lay our lives before Him, trusting in His sacrifice on the cross, His spirit floods our souls. Jesus changes us from the inside out. The power of His blood cleanses and heals, driving the darkness out of our souls and shines the light of His love over the shadow of shame.

In John 1:12,13 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
This means we are born of His Spirit; we have the capability to take on the characteristics of His nature and personality.

The question we must ask is, with whom are we going to identify? If we identify with the past-we will imprison ourselves with our own shame and guilt. As we choose to identify with the Greater One some startling things take place:

Courage replaces timidity.
Confidence replaces shame.
Faith replaces fear.
Love conquers bitterness.

As we place our faith in His eternal sacrifice, we can experience His power over the influence of the shadow of shame. Choose today to see yourself the way God declares you to be. Yesterday is over! What Jesus did on the cross for you, outstrips and out-weighs anything you have ever done, or anything that has been done to you.