"The Weapon of the Overcomers" by Abby Davidson, After His Heart series

Meet Abby.

I met her for the first time a couple of months ago at my home church in Arkansas. She was sitting a few pews ahead of me and I elbowed my husband and whispered, "Do we know her?" (Him: No.) "Oh.... Is she famous?" (Him: I don't think so.) "Well. I feel like I know her. Or she's famous." 

After the service, she was sitting alone so I was socially brave (which I'm not) and introduced myself. Turns out I do kinda know her: our pastor has mentioned her and her husband before. And she's also kind of famous because she and her husband are the directors of forgottensong, a non-profit organization that develops self-sustaining projects that will leave a lasting, positive impact on the people of war-torn countries.

Nothing like making an awesome new friend just weeks before you move across the country, right?!

I asked her to contribute a post to this series and she agreed, and turns out God had already been drawing out her old passion of writing. So here you get to not only hear the voice of a bravely bold and vulnerable warrior of a woman, but also witness the early fruits of her obedience to what God is calling out in her.

AND, don't miss this! Forgottensong is hosting a giveaway at the bottom of Abby's post! Sign up to win one of their chevron pocket t-shirts and a bag of their signature coffee. And if you don't win, you can still place orders here!

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"The Weapon of the Overcomers" by Abby Davidson

You know those moments when you pause and realize that God is completely shifting your understanding of who He is? 

He seems to love to shake foundations, watching the lies His people have been believing fall away through the cracks. It is at these times that I see God the clearest, when I realize all the “work” I do in my own strength can be eclipsed by God‘s overwhelming ability to renew my sight in just a moment's time.

I am currently in the midst of one of these moments.

I recently started seeing a Christian counselor to seek healing from anxiety, an issue that I have been facing for several years now. I haven’t wanted to tell many people about it, as I can't help but feel ashamed that I haven’t been able to overcome this issue on my own. 

I have been embarrassed by my weakness.

One of my dearest friends from high school recently encouraged me in a conversation over email by saying “The world is obsessed with ridding people of crosses, while Jesus teaches us to use the crosses in our life to transform us into the best version of ourselves.”

I couldn't get that statement out of my mind, and I began to question my goals in counseling. Should my goal really be to “get past” my issues? 

Will eliminating anxiety really make me a better follower of Christ, or is it possible that I am actually not on this path to lose a weakness but to gain a strength? Perhaps God wants to help me identify the wounds in my life not to forget them but to use them to release identity and freedom in my heart. Maybe he wants to develop me as a person through my wounds and not just despite them.

Then it hit me. 

God wants to equip me with a new weapon, one in which I have not before recognized the value. Freedom isn’t found in the absence of pain; it is discovered when pain is placed under the grace of God, who turns all bad things into good.

My wounds all of a sudden were not a block to a fulfilled life but actually a tool for God to make me “in the world but not of the world”... able to identify with the humanity of the world while walking in God’s renewing grace at the same time. 

Sounds a lot like the life of Jesus, doesn’t it?

As we walk closer and closer to God, His light shines brighter, revealing not only more of Himself but more of ourselves as well. 

We see more weaknesses, more wounds, and more issues in our hearts, but we should not be discouraged. As believers we are called to stand out, but not because of our lack of weakness. Rather, we reveal God's paradox, that as the world’s weaknesses lead to death, through God our weaknesses can lead to life.

I plan on continuing to see my counselor, and I plan on digging into the root of my anxiety to gain a better understanding of the wounds that brought me here. 

But my end goal has changed. 

As I seek to learn who I am, I trust that God will instill in me a sense of identity that can not only overcome anxiety but anything that comes against me. 

My hope is no longer in being anxiety-free; my hope is in the grace and power that comes in a life walked out with genuine identity in my Father God.