But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head. (Psalm 3:3 NKJV)
She sat alone on the playground, relieved the bullies had given her a break for that day. Maybe she could get through this day without their taunting. Why did she have to be different than everyone else?
That girl was me. I had a visual impairment, so I used special textbooks. My small frame prevented me from exceling in sports, so I became the one everyone picked on. I soon learned that being different equaled being unacceptable and shameful.
I spent most of my adult years trying to hide my visual deficiency. Until God became an important presence in my life, I lived in shame.
Perhaps you have felt shame over a disability, or perhaps you feel unwanted because of your weight or appearance. I have good news – God will lift up your head.
In Psalm three, David felt ashamed. His own son, Absalom, had turned against him, and most of Israel had joined Absalom. They believed they had conquered David and God would never help him.
David hung his head. He no longer had the reputation of the mighty warrior who slayed Goliath, the giant. His son hunted him like an animal.
David recognized God as his shield surrounding him. Even though things look grim, David trusted God to keep him safe and return him to the throne.
David also declared God as his glory. He didn’t seek for personal glory, but the glory of the Lord.
David declared God as the one who would lift up his head. Only God could remove the disgrace he felt. By trusting in the truth of God and forbidding his humiliation, David knew he could not depend on man to do only what God can do.
Friend, do you carry the weight of shame today. Does it affect your choices, actions, and responses? Give all of that to God. He alone lifts up your head, wipes away the tears, and replaces your misery with His mercy.
The disgrace of living with a disability faded away some time ago. The comments I receive today include: “You’re amazing.” “You do a good job.” I attribute my ability to navigate to God. He has lifted my head, and now I walk with my head held high.
I want that for you, my friend. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. Absorb the truth of God. Like David, trust in God to lift your chin up.
Heavenly Father, help the sting of hurtful comments fade as You lift my head. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
Find more verses to replace the lies of shame. Know your true identity in Christ as a beloved and accepted child of the King.
RELATED RESOURCES
My upcoming devotional journal gives you tools to combat shame and other forms of emotional bondage. Until it releases in the fall of 2022, check out Eyes of Faith: Winning the Battle Between Our Feelings and Our Faith.
Originally posted on March 21, 2022 @ 3:00 am
For years it was my weight. But my invisible hearing disability I have tried to hide or cover up. I got so tired of people just telling me to go get hearing aids. My hearing issue is not that I need sound amplified as I hear “sound” just fine except for very high pitch (songbirds, high pitched windchimes, the backing up signal on vehicles) I do not hear those high-pitched tones BUT that is not my hearing issue i have tried to hide. Mine is called APD. Audio Processing Disorder. It is a processing of spoken language. I hear the person talking just fine but if they speak too soft, mumble, don’t look directly at me i struggle “understanding” the words spoken. People sometimes sound like Charlie Browns teacher. I need to see mouths move to see if mouth formation matched what I heard. Masks prevented me from seeing mouths move therefore everyone who spoke to me while wearing a mask sounded like CB teacher. Not understanding the spoken word kept me home. When COVID hit and masks were required i got very vocal about my hate of masks. Between PTSD of breathing in my own hot air and feeling like I was being suffocated not being able to understand what anyone was saying to me (can’t see mouths move covered behind a mask) I chose to get vocal about my hearing issue and how people like me could not communicate anymore in public. All I got was…You are being unsensitive, you don’t care about keeping people safe. Yes, I did care but not understanding what anyone wearing a mask was saying meant zero communication.
Is there nothing they can do? I’m sorry. I talk all the time, so you probably struggled to understand me.