Symbols are all over the Bible. Many times, people would make something or purchase something to remind them of the incredible experience they had with God. Over and over, you will see God tell His people to “remember.” This is because frail human beings have the tendency to forget so easily.

Throughout my story, I had several symbols that have become super meaningful to me. If you are familiar with my story, you will recall when I was healing from sexual abuse, I felt like a total “weak and frail nobody.” A survivor of any type of abuse often feels like they have no power, and anyone can do whatever they want to them. When I was at a retreat hosted by “Healing for the Nations,” I was told to go for a walk in the woods and pick up a symbol that would signify what I was feeling that day. I picked up a stick and shared that it represented my anger. I felt like I could take the stick and beat a tree. By the end of that retreat, I felt God was saying to me, “Rebekah, this stick is now your scepter.” When God speaks to me, it is so real because many times, I have no idea what He means. LOL  I recognized a scepter as being something a beauty queen carried on her final walk, along with a crown on her head and roses on her arm. My leader at the retreat educated me. A scepter is a symbol of authority. My Heavenly Father was showing me that I DID have authority, and I COULD say no, and stand firm in my decisions.  It was a powerful experience. I went out and purchased a scepter and I use it as a reminder to myself that I have power. My emotions are lying to me when I feel like I don’t have the strength to stand up for myself. There have been so many times I hear the Lord say, “Don’t forget your scepter”. Of course, I don’t carry it around with me, but it’s a significant reminder of who I am in Christ.

Recently God has been bringing more healing to other difficult memories. Abuse is abuse, no matter the type. One of the things I am learning is that the brain needs to heal, as well as the heart. I’ve had a lot of healing in my heart but what about my brain? One definition of trauma is experiencing a time that you feel alone or abandoned. A trauma does not have to be huge. It can be any time that you felt alone and hurt. Since our creator developed our brains, He knows the answer to our healing.  It’s seeing Jesus in my imagination in a hurtful memory. I love the fact that God gave us an imagination and He uses it in so many different creative ways.

Seeing Jesus in a memory is not a fairy tale or make believe. Did He not say many times in the Bible, “I will be with you, and I will NEVER leave you or forsake you?” Do we believe Him? God is not a time creature. He actually WAS with us when we were hurt. Take a moment to think about that memory and then ask Him, “Jesus, where were you?” See if you can see Him in the memory. Ask Him one more question, “Jesus is there anything you want me to know about this memory?” Yes, I believe He will speak into our minds. I’ve never heard an audible voice, but there is a knowing that I cannot explain, when I ask these questions.  His words ALWAYS bring me joy and life and healing!

Recently God took me to a memory when I was three. I won’t go into the gory details because that is not actually good for your brain. I will tell you that I could see Jesus lovingly console me, and then He took me by the hand, and lead me out of this house. It was powerful! So that evening, I started looking on the internet for a picture of Jesus and a little girl that would remind me of this event. I found an adorable picture of a little girl holding hands with Jesus. It reminded me how He took my hand and led me out of that house. I saw another picture of a teenager being led away by the hand of Jesus. My eyes were drawn to that picture too. I wondered why but did not purchase that picture.

That very evening, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling some emotional pain. I asked the Lord what was going on? God took me to several memories of more pain from my childhood. And when I asked Him where He was, I saw Him take me by the hand and lead me out of that house too! It was so healing and freeing! I also heard Him say several uplifting things to me. When God speaks, you will know it is Him. God’s Word tells us that His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. If it is negative, critical, or hurtful, it is NOT Him. We live in a spiritual world with counterfeit spirits.

The next day I went back and purchased that picture of Jesus leading an older version of myself out of the house. I then created and purchased a framed picture of those two realities. It will always help me remember the truth of His presence with me in EVERY situation I experienced or will experience. Now when my mind goes to those memories the picture is different. I see Jesus in those memories and it’s literally healing my brain. This does not mean the hurt did not happen. It means that I now have a completed picture of that memory. Jesus really was with me in the painful event. And that changes everything. The first memory was accurate but incomplete.

Do you need to ask Jesus where He was in a memory? He loves showing us truth and speaking healing to our hearts.