On the Threshold of Hope: Opening the Door to Healing for Survivors of Sexual Abuse (AACC Counseling Library)

by Diane Langberg

because the Light of the World has come. His name is Jesus, and he brings life to dead places, forgives sins, and heals the broken and wounded. I pray that you will find him in these pages.

in your own battle with darkness, give you hope that the Light Giver has come, and introduce you to a greater measure of his redemptive power in your life.

The sound of your own voice may initially seem strange to you because sexual abuse often has the effect of silencing its victims.

The fourth voice you will hear in these pages is the voice of the Redeemer. Some of you are afraid he does not exist. At least not for you. Some of you do not want to know him yet. To trust anyone,

perhaps most especially a powerful Redeemer, is unimaginable to you. Some of you long to hear his voice and are desperate to know that he speaks to you. He who is called the Man of Sorrows is here, and he is working even in your darkness.

Whatever your story is, there is no darkness he cannot banish, no depth he cannot plumb, no devastation he cannot redeem. I know, for I have seen him do it.

This book is intended to assure you that the darkness and suffering you have experienced are indeed real.

Most survivors, I find, do not think that Scripture has much to say about abuse. In fact, many survivors have had their abusers use Scripture to justify the abuse.

Some of you know what it is like to be abused in the place that should have been a demonstration of the safety and refuge found in God. You know what it means to have those who ought to have protected you instead hand you over in order to save themselves.

You know also the moment of realizing that no one is going to come to your aid.

“Well, come on. . . . Let’s get going” or “Put the past behind you.” Many of you, I am sure, have experienced a “death on the threshold.”

And although your body has not physically died, you may feel as if you ha...