THE LOCKED DOOR OF THE VICTIM

Let’s just open a locked door. If you are withholding intimacy from your spouse, you are an Intimacy Anorexic and your IA is a choice (Soul Refiner session 3). But wait, some of us will say we withhold intimacy because we are victims of abuse. Like the book of Job, we suffer loss. Job lost his children, his wealth and his health. We can relate to loss. Some of us can relate to victims. Job asked God for a reason of this assault and one friend said “Job you are just bad.” He asked God for an advocate and had to wait for an answer and experienced depression and loneliness. Job again asked God why people should suffer hardship. Life is difficult and people suffer “so God, why not leave us alone.” Another friend answered “God is too righteous to even be concerned about us.” Job’s friends continually harped that blessings come from righteous living. Job could have declared to his death he was a victim. But he did not stay a victim. His Intimacy Anorexia was a choice. Now how do we move forward from being an IA? With a deep breath you will start Session 3 of Soul Refiner. We, like Job, sometimes do experience incredible loss and abuse from those we trusted. We need help dealing with our own guilt, from misguided advice of self -improvement, and from Satan’s lies that God does not care about us. How did Job recover? Job at the end of all of his friends’ advice, walked away from being a victim by discovering a relationship with God. Job replies to God, ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ Job 42:4 NASB You know the end of the book, Job was blessed abundantly - after Job forgave his friends. That is another good sermon topic. Open the victim door and find God on the other side by working through Soul Refiner session 3 at Faith Bible Church starting in January 2021.