I have struggled with a sense of shame almost my whole life. Some of my earliest memories of school involve an overwhelming sense of shame. I vividly remember being in kindergarten and one of my classmates already knowing how to read. Right after learning one of the letters assigned for that week, my teacher had one of the girls from my class sit in her rocking chair at circle time and read us a short book. I was amazed and completely overwhelmed all at once. I didn’t feel like I’d ever be able to do that. The day my teacher told us we would learn to count to 100, I felt like dropping out of school. Then I learned that in order to graduate you had to go to school for twelve years and kindergarten didn’t count. I wanted to go home and never come back.
School was hard for me, especially in those early years.
In the first grade, I was given the labels of “Dyslexic and Learning Disabled.” These labels brought with them a lot of shame in the years that followed.
Moses knew a little something about the sting of shame, too. In Exodus 4, he asked God to pick someone else for the job. Because of his “weakness” or “disability,” Moses did not feel confident to speak in front of people. His reluctance to obey God’s request shows the grip shame had on his life. To us, it seems almost unthinkable to ask God to pick someone else for a job, yet that is exactly what Moses did.
Because of shame, Moses didn’t think he had anything to offer. He didn’t trust that God could still move powerfully through his weakness. The shame Moses experienced made him feel less than, unusable, disqualified, and broken.
I’ve felt those same feelings over the years and still struggle with them even now.
In our weakness, God is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). We see this truth lived out through Moses’ life as he later chose to not let his shame stop him from obeying God’s call on his life. Did it happen overnight? No, but day by day, choosing to trust and walk forward one day at a time, God formed Moses into an amazing leader, a leader whom God used to lead His people out of slavery and into the promised land.
If you look at a lot of men and women God used powerfully through the ages, you’ll see leaders who first fought battles on the battlefields of shame.
Shame has a way of making you feel less than, not enough, and exposed.
Shame makes you want to go into hiding, not be God’s spokesman or woman.
Yet throughout Scripture, especially illustrated in Moses’ life, God intentionally sought out those cloaked in shame, showing once again His heart for the hurting and His power to redeem their lives.
What God did through Moses’ life, He can do in yours as well.
In Psalm 103 we read about God’s compassionate, merciful, patient, and loyal love for His children revealed through Moses’ life. God could have chosen a less broken leader, but He didn’t. That says a lot about God’s heart for the hurting.
I don’t know the cause of shame in your life, but I want you to know that despite the lies you hear, God can and wants to powerfully use you. The next time you feel the heaviness of shame coming over you, think about Moses and how powerfully God worked through his life. Trust God to work powerfully through yours, too. Never forget, You are never too broken for God to use or redeem.
Have you purchased your Shame Breaker journal yet? Not only will you find all of the daily reading passages and SOAP journaling pages, but you’ll have each of the daily devotions in printed form–no need to check the app on your phone while working through your study!
Don’t forget, the Bridge Reading Plan is only available in the printed journals! The Bridge is a two-week long reading plan designed to bridge the gap between two studies. In the Shame Breaker journal you’ll find the Bridge Reading Plan along with two weeks of SOAP journaling pages and daily Scripture reading! Don’t miss this! The Bridge reading plans will walk through the entire Book of Psalms during 2021. This plan is found only in the study journals, so grab one today! You don’t want to miss out!
When you purchase a journal, you are helping us reach women around the world with the gospel. By purchasing a journal you help our incredible team of volunteer translators build up leaders around the world. Your journal purchase allows women to read God’s Word in their native language and have access to quality Bible study materials in the language they best understand. We hope you’ll join us on our mission to make God’s Word accessible to women in every nation and in every language!
Order your Shame Breaker and Shame Breaker for Kids journals here!
What a beautiful testimony, Angela! And today, God is using you greatly for His kingdom! I am thankful that we don’t have to be perfectly flawless to be used for God’s glory. We just surrender ourselves as we are to Him. 🙂
Heidi thank you for joining us! Yes we are perfectly imperfect to Him and we are just as He wants us, flaws and all.
Heidi Jo,
Yes, this was a beautiful testimony today from Angela! I am so grateful that God meets us just as and right where we are. We just need to surrender to Him and be willing vessels for His work. Thank you for joining us today and sharing on the blog, my dear friend. God Bless You!
Angela, those rough years of shame which now would be handled so differently served to give you a gentle and tender heart toward those of us who tend to mess up now and again. I praise Him for you and the way God has used you in so many lives around the world … and mine!! You are a huge blessing to me, sweet sister, and I love you dearly! ?
Hello, I was invited to join the Bible study, Shame Breaker. Since we want to start right away, I made a donation and planned to down load materials. I am confused. Are there journal pages to be downloaded?