If any part of that question belongs to you, this article is for you.
God Does Not Ask You to Call Evil Good
The Bible never asks us to pretend that evil is harmless.
Abuse is not merely a misunderstanding, a difficult relationship, or a personality conflict. When one person deliberately uses violence, intimidation, sexual exploitation, manipulation, humiliation, threats, or control against another person, something deeply wrong has happened.
Scripture takes evil seriously because God takes people seriously.
Isaiah warns against those who “call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20, NKJV). Christianity does not require a wounded person to rename cruelty as love or injustice as something insignificant.
What happened matters. God sees it.
Some abuse happens openly. Much of it happens where no one else can see—in homes, relationships, families, churches, workplaces, and other places where trust should have provided safety.
Nothing is hidden from God. That truth may be frightening to the person who commits evil. To the person who has suffered silently, it can also be a profound comfort.
God Is Near to the Wounded
“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
Psalm 34:18, NKJV
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
God is not repelled by wounded people.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus moved toward people others ignored, rejected, condemned, or avoided. He showed compassion to people carrying grief, shame, sickness, sorrow, and the consequences of living in a broken world.
He did not demand that suffering people first become emotionally tidy before coming to Him. Neither must you.
You may come to Christ with questions you cannot answer and wounds you do not know how to describe. You may come afraid, angry, exhausted, confused, or uncertain of what you even believe anymore.
God is not threatened by an honest question.
“Where Was God?”
For many survivors, this may be the hardest question of all.
There is no shallow answer worthy of it.
The Bible does not teach that every terrible thing that happens is good. Human beings are capable of terrible evil, and Scripture never hides that reality.
Jesus Himself entered a world filled with it. He knew betrayal from someone close to Him. He was falsely accused, mocked, beaten, humiliated, and finally crucified.
Christianity therefore does not present God as distant from human suffering. In Jesus Christ, God entered it.
That does not erase what happened to you. It does mean that when you cry out to Christ, you are not crying out to One who knows nothing of betrayal, cruelty, humiliation, or pain.
Forgiveness Does Not Mean Pretending
Few Christian words have been used more carelessly around wounded people than the word forgiveness.
Jesus clearly teaches forgiveness. Christians are not called to spend their lives consumed by vengeance. But biblical forgiveness does not require us to declare evil acceptable, erase the truth, or pretend that trust has not been shattered.
Forgiveness also does not automatically mean reconciliation.
Trust may be destroyed in a moment and require a long time to rebuild. Genuine reconciliation requires truth, repentance, and meaningful change. In some circumstances, reconciliation may eventually become possible. In others, wisdom may require lasting distance.
Nothing about Christian forgiveness requires a person to return to danger.
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19, NKJV
Forgiveness places personal vengeance into God's hands. It does not say that justice is unimportant, and it does not make evil less evil.
Seeking Safety Is Not a Failure of Faith
If you are currently being abused or threatened, seeking safety is not spiritual weakness.
Sometimes people remain in dangerous situations because someone has convinced them that leaving demonstrates a lack of faith, violates Christian submission, or proves that they have failed to forgive.
Scripture does not require you to cooperate with someone who is harming you.
Getting to a safe place can be an act of wisdom. Telling someone trustworthy can be an act of courage. Seeking help from responsible family members, a pastor, counselor, physician, law-enforcement officer, or other appropriate authority does not mean you have failed God. Nor does reporting a crime mean you have rejected forgiveness.
If you are in immediate danger, your immediate concern should be getting somewhere safe and seeking appropriate help.
What Happened to You Is Not Who You Are
Abuse has a terrible ability to change the way a person sees himself or herself.
After enough fear, manipulation, blame, or humiliation, a person may begin to believe that the abuse was somehow deserved, that he or she should have stopped it, that no one would believe the truth, or that the damage can never be overcome. Some even begin to wonder whether God Himself must be disappointed in them.
Those thoughts can feel overwhelmingly true. They are not the final authority over your life.
The person who harmed you does not have the authority to determine your value. Your worst experience does not get to name you, and your deepest wound does not become your identity.
The Gospel announces something greater.
God created human beings with dignity. Sin has brought terrible destruction into the world, including the terrible things people do to one another. Jesus Christ entered that broken world to save sinners and redeem what sin has devastated.
At the cross, He bore sin. Through His resurrection, death itself was defeated.
And to everyone who comes to Him in faith, Christ offers forgiveness, reconciliation with God, eternal life, and a new identity that no human abuser has the power to take away.
Healing May Take Time
Faith in Christ does not mean every painful memory immediately disappears.
Some wounds heal slowly. There may be long stretches of progress followed by a day when a memory, a voice, a place, or an unexpected moment makes the past feel close again.
That does not mean God has abandoned you.
Christian hope is not the promise that believers will never struggle. It is the promise that suffering is not sovereign and evil is not eternal.
The person who hurt you does not have the final word. Even death does not have the final word.
Jesus Christ does.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4, NKJV
Christianity ultimately points beyond survival. It points toward redemption.
Look at Jesus
Perhaps what happened to you has made faith difficult. Perhaps someone claiming to represent God was the very person who wounded you. Scripture may even have been twisted and used against you.
If so, separating that person's behavior from the character of Jesus Christ may take time.
But do not judge Christ by the person who misrepresented Him.
Look instead at Jesus Himself. See how He treated vulnerable people, how He confronted hypocrisy, how He showed compassion to those who were suffering, and how seriously He treated sin and injustice.
Then look at the cross and the empty tomb.
Jesus does not ask you to pretend your story did not happen. He invites you to bring the whole truth of it to Him.
You May Come to Christ
If you have never trusted Jesus Christ, you can come to Him now.
The Gospel is not an invitation to become religious enough to deserve God's love. It is the good news that Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again, and that those who turn to Him in faith can be forgiven and reconciled to God.
And if you already belong to Christ but feel wounded, distant, confused, or angry, you may still come honestly before Him. You do not need another salvation. You need what every child of God needs: permission to cry out to the Father who already knows the truth.
There Is Still Time
There is still time to seek help.
There is still time to tell the truth.
There is still time to step away from danger.
There is still time to begin healing.
There is still time to discover that the person who hurt you does not own the rest of your story.
And above all, there is still time to come to Jesus Christ.
What was done to you matters. But it does not get the final word.
Jesus does.
If you are ready to turn to Jesus Christ, ask Solomon 2.0, “How can I be saved?”