By Caralyn

 

 

“And he who sat upon the throne said,
“Behold, I make all things new.”” ~Revelation 21:5a

One Promise

If there is one promise that I cling to and one truth that has shaped the path of my life, it is this. 

I moved to NYC when I was 21 years old. I knew not a single soul. After a tumultuous season battling an eating disorder in high school and much of college, I needed a fresh start—a clean slate. I was newly on the road of recovery, and I was searching for purpose. My life had been turned on its head, and I wanted to find meaning in my existence again. I wanted to rediscover the girl I used to be.

I thought that moving across the country and going to acting school would solve my existential crisis. 

That’s what we’re told, right? Starting over means you can ditch the past, redefine who you are, and craft your future to become whom you want to be. 

But it turns out you are who you are, no matter which area code you’re in. And your past follows you wherever you go.

My search for purpose proved to be deeply disappointing.

Invite God In

Until I invited God to take complete control of my life, I had to submit to His will and timing and give my heart to Him. 

I had to surrender the broken, ugly, messy parts of my heart that I had made an effort to conceal from the world, especially from God. 

I believed that those broken parts of my heart disqualified me from love, forgiveness, and grace. 

I carried so much guilt and shame from the eating disorder in my past, and it was a cancer on my soul — eating away at whom I believed I was.

It took a patient, loving Father to gently come in, take those fragile, hurting parts of my spirit, and redeem them with His love and His blood. 

Something New

Behold, I make all things new. I clung to that promise. That was my hope. If He could do that with Paul, Lazarus, the leapers, the blind man, the paralyzed, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, the prodigal son, then maybe He could do that with me, too. 

Maybe He could take my life and redeem it to be used for His glory. My deepest prayer was to be used as His instrument: for Him to take my broken past and use it to help others also battling eating disorders. 

The old has passed away. I am free. 

He has made me new, and I can stand here, a healed, whole, young woman — who finally rediscovered the “Caralyn-I-used-to-be.” She wasn’t in New York or at an acting studio on the east side of Manhattan. She was in the arms of our Savior.

I didn’t have to run away. I only needed to run to Jesus, who takes every broken piece of our hearts, every shame, every hurt, every anger — and washes us clean with His amazing Grace. 

Prayer

Lord, to You I surrender my heart, my fears, my brokenness. I give You my all: take it, and make it new, just as You have promised.

Call to Action

This week, may we find the courage to open up that hidden space in our heart — the one we’re afraid to confront — and invite Jesus in to heal and redeem it…because He will. 

 

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