{"id":3711,"date":"2025-10-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancylucenay.com\/staging\/8869\/?p=3711"},"modified":"2025-11-07T20:01:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:01:31","slug":"how-to-let-go-of-shame-and-find-healing-in-gods-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancylucenay.com\/staging\/8869\/how-to-let-go-of-shame-and-find-healing-in-gods-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Let Go of Shame and Find Healing in God\u2019s Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I raised my voice as I answered my elderly, hard-of-hearing mother\u2019s question for the fourth time. The silence in the room thundered as the noise of the other ladies chatting ceased, and all eyes looked my direction. Not only did my mother hear my sharp tone, but everyone else did as well. In that instant, I exposed decades of failure to be the patient, loving daughter I wanted people to think I was. My face burned, and though I longed to disappear, I could think of nothing to mitigate the awkwardness of the moment or my humiliation. After a few seconds that felt like forever, conversations resumed. Nevertheless, even years later, I couldn\u2019t let go of the shame as I allowed that snapshot to confirm me as a never-good-enough daughter. I longed to find healing in God\u2019s grace, but how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not alone. Many Christians live under the same heavy weight. Long after we\u2019ve confessed our sins and failures to the Lord, the pain remains. We accept God\u2019s grace in our heads but still carry disgrace in our hearts. My shame stemmed from something I did. Yet for others, the cause may arise from something done to them or result from the human condition. The bleeding woman in Mark 5:25-34<\/em><\/a> presents a powerful picture of one who lived with her burden for twelve long years. Unlike me, she was not to blame for her shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bleeding Woman\u2019s Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At some point, the nameless woman\u2019s monthly cycle refused to end. She tried every cure the doctors suggested, but when she ran out of money, they ran out of ideas. Her fellow Jews assumed God was punishing her for some sin. For twelve years\u2014six hundred twenty-four weeks, four thousand four hundred nineteen days\u2014the bleeding woman<\/a> endured the agonizing degradation. A never-ending reminder of her unworthiness. Even her family refused to touch her or anything she handled lest she transmit her uncleanness to them. People treated her like the embodiment of shame, recoiling and judging her. They barred her from worship and everyday social interaction. Although her heart craved the warmth of human touch, she could find no way to make herself acceptable. So she stayed out of sight to avoid abuse. The crushing loneliness and isolation weighed down her shoulders and dogged her dreams as shame whispered in her ear. \u201cYou\u2019re unwanted. You\u2019re unredeemable. You\u2019ll never be healed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Brave Decision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One day, the bleeding woman learned Jesus was coming to town. She\u2019d heard about his miraculous powers, that just touching his clothes would bring healing. Could she permit herself to hope one more time? Might she possibly find healing in God’s grace? Determined to push back against her hopelessness and exhaustion, she dragged herself off her pallet to risk mixing with the crowd. If they realized who she was, they would beat her. She prayed her self-imposed isolation would allow her to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With her eyes down and face hidden under a head covering, the woman inched toward Jesus. Despite the pushing of the mob, she squeezed her emaciated body close enough to stroke the tassels on his prayer shawl. She gasped when she realized her bleeding had stopped, not slowed but stopped. However, when Jesus turned and asked who touched him, her heart pounded as her worst nightmare became reality. Somehow, he distinguished between the crowd\u2019s incidental contact and her intentional touch of faith that released his power. Her actions made him unclean. Would he rebuke her or reverse her healing? She expected he would give up when he recognized the impossibility of identifying one person in the pulsing throng. Yet he insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bleeding Woman Finds Healing in <\/strong>God\u2019s<\/strong> Grace<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The trembling woman crumpled at Jesus\u2019 feet and confessed. With the gentlest eyes and voice possible, he turned to her. Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace <\/em>(shalom<\/em>) and be freed from your suffering (Mark 5:34 NIV)<\/em>. He welcomed her into his shalom (peace, wholeness)as a daughter of Abraham. Restoring not only her body but her dignity, her place in the community, and her identity in God\u2019s family. At last, she found freedom from her shame and healing in God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Connection to Our Shame<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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The bond between us and our shame may be a dual attraction. Not only do the bitter memories have a chokehold on us, but we may also refuse to let go. Until Jesus healed the bleeding woman, she couldn\u2019t avoid her condition. But we keep replaying shameful incidents in our minds, unable to escape. For over twenty years, I resigned myself to bearing the heaviness in my chest for how I treated my mother. Then Jesus intervened by putting his finger on the ache in my heart. One morning, the topic of shame appeared in my Bible reading and various devotions, demanding my attention. The Savior encouraged me to bring my humiliation to him. Why? Because shame thrives in darkness but dies in the light. Exposure destroys its power. Despite my desire to ignore his invitation, I accepted, claiming his assurance of deliverance. Instead of condemning me, he burned away my shame and poured the cooling waters of his healing grace over my wounds. He removed my identity as a never-good-enough daughter, restoring me to a treasured position in his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, my failure to seek my mother\u2019s forgiveness before she died grieved my soul. However, Jesus assured me he\u2019d healed all my mother\u2019s pain the instant she stepped into his presence. He not only did for me what I couldn\u2019t do for myself, but he also did for her what I could no longer do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Let Go of the Shame That Won\u2019t Let Go of Us<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Will you join me at the foot of the cross as we offer the shame that won\u2019t let go to the One who died to set us free? He waits for us to come to him for healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n