Today, for our Fasting Friday reading and meditation, we have a guest blog from the writer of throughdeepwaters.com. Our first collaboration! I hope this meditation is a blessing to you..
Earlier this month I had a chance to take part in the Global Leadership Summit 2021, held in Chicago. I was truly blessed to hear from several incredible leaders and changemakers from around the globe.
In between sessions, the organizers shared the various network of partners they made the Summit available to. In particular, was a group of women who are survivors of human trafficking. One survivor, Rebecca, was transparent and shared her story and her face. For years, she was unable to break free from the soul-destroying control the ring leaders had on her life. One incredible day, the ring was raided and charged with money laundering and tax evasion and she was able to start life over.
As I listened to her be fully transparent in sharing the horrors of this deceptive and evil industry, I couldn’t help but think how often this happens in modern day America. A young girl or woman is lured into thinking there’s safety in the invitation from a stranger. That’s just the start of a string of lies and deception that starts to break down a life, from the inside out. Eventually, it convinces a person that she’s of no value, if she ever tries to leave this lifestyle. Rebecca shared how she began to rebuild her life. After a few years, she found the strength to connect with other survivors to show them healing and restoration is possible. I was so inspired by these women who found strength to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Despite horrendous circumstances, they were determined to find a path forward.
It made me pause and think that people can view themselves as a victim or a survivor. Both can be true but it’s your perspective that frames your response. This allows you to either move forward or be frozen in your circumstances. I’m reminded of the story of Hagar from the scriptures, who was treated harshly by Sarai, her mistress.
Genesis 16 lays out the story for us and gives us insight into Hagar’s initial response, which was to run away from the problem. She responded as a hurt victim although we don’t know the exact way she was mistreated. Like many of us, she chose to listen to her emotions and respond accordingly. She ran away into a desert setting and there, the angel of the Lord found her and helped her reframe her perspective on the situation. This must have been difficult and I’m sure required her to do some deep soul searching, but moved her from a victim to a survivor mentality.
We can see that because she did, she was able to think with clarity and not with emotions first. Her obedience and trust in God’s provision for her came with a promise that generations would follow after her. Also, the angel acknowledged her current situation. This is so important to point out because many times we react from a place of emotion because we think no one sees our pain and frustration. The passage continues to share that Hagar found comfort in knowing that God sees her circumstances and honors him with her lips. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to guide our emotions and interactions and trust that God sees us and will provide a way forward.
I’ve included some resources below on Rebecca’s work.
Rebecca’s website : rebeccabender.org
Elevate Academy : https://elevate-academy.org/
You can learn more about how to fight human trafficking with Rebecca’s e-course called Trafficking Truths. You can find it at : https://rebecca-bender.mykajabi.com/trafficking-truths