Struck Down, But Not Destroyed

I just came from a Messianic Jewish women's retreat where I had the privilege to be one of the speakers. I didn't have long—ten minutes—as there were so many presenters. I had been praying and mulling over those ten minutes on and off since October and was less than thrilled that my message remained unformed when I arrived at the snowy inn in the Poconos on Friday afternoon. By the time I was sitting on the stage with the other three women from my panel group Sunday morning, I still only had the basics in mind.

The speaker before me went on. A funny and vibrant woman whom I had heard about for years but never gotten to know before this retreat, Melissa spoke on the topic of identifying evil schemes that the enemy throws at us. She talked about breaking trust, and how that destroys relationships. She spoke of the difficult work involved in building back relationships, whether friendship or marriage, where there has been a loss of trust. She said you can't always go back, but you can write a new story.

This was it! In a succinct way, Melissa put her finger on the central theme of my message. You see, this last year has been a difficult time both because of the eleven-year struggle I've had with breast cancer and also due to the emotional and painful severing of a relationship where, for me, trust had been betrayed. These two events had intertwined such that I was battle-weary from the seemingly continuous barrage.

So when I was handed the microphone, God blessed me and I was able to share coherently, from the heart. The Scripture He had already given me welled up, and I quoted from 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 (NIV): "But we have this treasure [knowledge of the glory of God] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed."

Through Messiah Yeshua, there is always the power to continue to fight, and, ultimately, to triumph. And you know what? By the end of the retreat, He had completely lifted the pain of the betrayal of trust that had so burdened me for eight months, bringing me the freedom that only comes in Messiah. Likewise, I am confident in His power to defeat cancer. We have the victory!

Deborah Galiley is a messianic rabbi's wife from Utica, New York. She is the author of three biblical fiction novels—Polished Arrows, Yohana, and Seeking Paradise (OakTara). www.greatbiblefiction.com