If you’ve never known what it’s like to be so afraid that you hide underneath an abandoned car for safety, or to run for your life seeking help from anyone that would aid you; if you’ve never had to survive off ketch-up sandwiches because that’s the only thing in your frig, or you’ve never had to leave behind everything you own to start over again, then experiencing what it’s like to walk in the glorious light of Christ might not seem like  such a big deal to you. But if you know what living in bondage feels like, when every day you awaken with an ache in your heart that seems to resonate through everything else in your life, freedom becomes the greatest dream of your existence.

In John 8:36(NIV), Jesus Christ said “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” As a little girl in Sunday School, I remember hearing this verse all the time. I didn’t understand it then, and even when I approached an age where I might have comprehended it on some level, I was too focused on the cares of life to digest it. Like most of us, as the years went by, my responsibilities increased. I was more consumed with keeping all the balls in the air than I had ever imagined. But instead of being occupied with things that made my life more meaningful and fulfilling, I was busy putting out fire after fire. I’d take one step forward and two steps backwards.

For a while, I managed to keep it going, but eventually some really bad choices caught up with me. I spiraled down to such a degree that I didn’t recognize myself anymore. I had so much shame about the condition I was living in, and I just couldn’t see my way out of it. There are so many people in this situation, and when everything you see looks dark, you can’t imagine what life will be when light shines through even the smallest crack. This is life behind the veil, and it’s not God’s best; not by a long shot.

In Romans 12:1, God warns us not to be conformed to the world, but to allow Him to transform us from the inside out as we read and study His Word. The world consists of those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Lord! They haven’t accepted him as the Savior of the world, and because they don’t know him, they are blind to the life and wholeness that he gives. The Apostle Paul said in 2Corinthians 4:3-4 (NLT), “3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

One of the greatest manifestations of spiritual acumen that we can receive from God is discernment, the ability to recognize the difference between the truth and a lie. This is golden! It is priceless, and it will ultimately yield a life lived well. Jesus Christ said in John 8:32(NKJV), “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We cannot be free by living a lie. That is impossible. Only the truth can make us free, and this is why the enemy blinds the hearts and minds of people; because he does not want them to walk in the liberty that Christ has made available.

Proverbs 14:12 (NLT) tells us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”  This verse scared me when I first read it. I was concerned that it was possible for a person to be on the wrong path and not know it. I was afraid because deep down, I knew that I wasn’t living my destiny. I was anxious and nervous all the time. Things had slipped so easily out of my hands. I had lost out big time more than once. So, if it happened to me before, I thought to myself, “what would stop it from happening to me again?” Nothing felt sure and solid. Everything was like a vapor that could evaporate before my next breath. I had lived like this for so long, that it had become my normal.

God tells us in 1John 4:18 (NLT), “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” I was fearful of being punished, and indeed I felt as though I had been. I was not living love. I was not living liberty. I was not living in the light. Jesus Christ is the truth! He is love, liberty, and light! But I was behind the veil, and you can’t walk in the destiny that God has preordained for your life if you can’t see the right path. Most of us think we’re seeing it. We think we’ve got it all figured out, even though we’re suffering inside.

One of the things that the devil doesn’t want us to know is that the moment light is introduced, darkness diminishes. In John 14:6, Jesus Christ told us that he is the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father unless they come through him. Jesus Christ is the Way-Maker! When we give room to the idea that we might NOT know what we NEED to know in order to see clearer, the veil is torn. And when we surrender in even the smallest way to the idea that Christ will lead us into the light, and teach us the truth, the veil is ripped apart.

Christ extended his hand of mercy to me many times before I reached out and took it. When I did, things became immediately clearer. There were still battles that I endured, but I was victorious through them all because of him. I didn’t lean on my own strength; it had failed me in the past. I decided not to expect a man to fill my cup, because I started to get it through my head that it wasn’t possible for another human being to do that. I leaned totally on God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I did it then, and I do it now. It is our prayer that you will do the same. You will discover, as I have, that He is all you need to rip the veil from your life and walk in the brilliance of the light of Christ. ■

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

“Behind the Veil” written by Fran for DomesticAbuseAwareness.Org ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!