What an honor to welcome author, speaker and life coach Carey Scott to the blog. Enjoy Carey’s story of boldly waiting on the Lord to defend her. This post was originally published in June, 2016. Be sure to read all the way to the end for an update from Carey, including info about her new book, Uncommon. #BeBoldGirl
Everything in me wanted to retaliate. As I sat there in amazement, seeing my words in her book, disbelief turned into anger. And as I dug deeper, uncovering more instances of direct plagiarism from my book Untangled, I wanted justice.
My book was my story. In its pages, I boldly shared places where insecurity had taken over my life — where it had tangled my self-worth into knots of worthlessness. God asked me to reveal secret places of shame, fear, and unforgiveness in it… and I did. Even though it felt scary and vulnerable, He gave me the courage to be honest about my journey.
You see, at heart I am a warrior. I’m rarely afraid to face my fears or stare down the “you can’t” or “you shouldn’t” messages that come my way. I don’t often cower in the battle, becoming bolder instead. And one of my favorite gifts is a sword given to me by some friends. It hangs on my wall. It reminds me of who I am – a Kingdom warrior. And I love it.
I can think of countless situations where I’ve had to be bold in life. Maybe you can, too. Let’s just say my close-enough-to-50-years on planet earth haven’t always been easy. Abuses of all kinds, deep discouragement, moral failures and painful seasons where I’ve wanted to give up have given me reason to press into the Lord in desperate ways.
But can I be honest? I haven’t always liked God. I’ve struggled to trust Him because I wondered why He allowed so much evil to come my way. Maybe you know just what I mean because your life hasn’t been easy either.
What I didn’t understand then was that a faith-filled life doesn’t void out hard times. It doesn’t guarantee freedom from pain or hardship. And nowhere in the Bible does it make such promises. Truth is, it takes boldness to not only know this and decide to walk with Jesus anyway, but also trust that God’s will and ways for your life are better – even when it doesn’t feel that way.
When I found the plagiarized words – my very personal words – in her book, God spoke to me. Not audibly, but I heard it in my spirit all the same. He gave me Exodus 14:14 which reads…
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (NIV)
God was calling me off the front row of the battle field — a place I loved to be. He was going to be fighting for justice instead.
The question I wrestled with was, Am I bold enough to step aside and let God battle for me? Because doing so would require two things of me that life had taught me to never do again: (1) Let go of control, and (2) trust someone else to defend me. I’d been hurt too many times by people and circumstances. And while we have to have wisdom with relational boundaries and self-protection, it’s important to remember that God is always trustworthy and has our best interest in mind at all times. That knowledge is a game-changer.
Faith by definition is having complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
I’m still waiting to see how God will fight in my situation. I don’t yet have closure. Parts of me still longs for vengeance. I still feel violated and hopeless.
But over and over again, He keeps reminding me that the fight is His.
So I boldly wait and watch.
And trust.
What wrong are you boldly waiting on God to defend? How can you grow in trust while you wait?
June, 2017 Update from Carey
With my second book releasing on July 1st, I find myself wondering if I’ll find words from Uncommon in someone else’s book–just like I did with Untangled. God still has me waiting for His justice in the plagiarism issue. And every day I’m still choosing to trust Him even though nothing has happened to rectify the situation.
Even more, as I wrote Uncommon I felt God challenging me to let this way of living be my new normal. I believe that in every situation I face, He is calling me to live differently. And friend, God is calling you higher too. And while we all have our usual ways of responding to life, it’s time to be salt and light to a world that needs to know Jesus. Our words and actions need to point others to God instead of showcasing our humanness.
So I will continue to #bebold and choose to #beUncommon and follow Exodus 14:14 and let Him fight for me–even when everything in me wants to do it my way.
Carey lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and two kids where she tries to be domestic, and appreciates the grace when she’s not. You can learn more by visiting her website and blog at CareyScottTalks.com, or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter
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Linking up with Holly Barrett at #TestimonyTuesday, Kelly Balarie at #RaRaLinkup, Holley Gerth at Coffee For Your Heart