Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
April 22, 2024
This Week's Anchor
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled,
ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them,
there was nothing they could say.”
Acts 4:13-14 (NIV)
Being a psychologist and psychotherapist is a humbling profession. I’m often honored and amazed by the stories of healing, recovery, and resistance I encounter each week. Wandering with folks as they name, process, and transform is powerful for my clients while also meaningful for me. With each story and every triumph, I am even more convinced by God’s ability to use some of our most painful and shameful experiences as fertilizer for His Divine Will.
God reminded me of this powerful truth through a conversation with an aspiring mental health professional some months ago. This conversation followed a mental health panel event hosted at a local university where I was invited to speak. As a strong advocate for healing both as a professional and as a human, I lead conversations about mental health from a place of humility. To dissipate some of the inherent power dynamics of being perceived as the “expert” mental health professional in the room, at some point, I usually state my value of practicing what I preach—sharing the ways I, too, have personally benefited from therapy. So, true to form, at this speaking engagement, I gave my usual introduction (“Hi, my name is Dericka, and I’m a therapist with a therapist”), and didn’t think anything more.
After the event, a graduate student in a mental health program expressed her gratitude for my disclosure regarding my use of therapy as a psychologist. She shared her previous battles with mental health concerns and her present engagement in treatment, and she conveyed the discouragement she’s endured from family and peers regarding her ability to be a mental health professional considering her history. As she shared her story, I felt called to encourage her in this moment. I first acknowledged how painful it might be for the people whom she might expect support to provide the opposite as she dedicates herself to a challenging academic and career journey. I then shared more about my path to therapy, detailing the encouragement my colleagues and I received from our graduate program to engage in therapy and our program’s viewpoint that you really couldn’t be your best therapist-self without it. I recalled the countless professionals I knew—psychologists, mental health providers, social workers, and all who, like me and like her, navigated various mental health and life experiences where treatment and/or support were useful. Lastly, I reassured her that her experiences, and most importantly her commitment to healing and supporting herself, were exactly what she would likely need to be a great mental health professional one day.
As we wrapped up our conversation, I noticed the weight lift off her shoulders. She thanked me and my colleague, who also chimed in on the encouragement, and went about her way. As I left the panel that night and made my commute home, I couldn’t help but reflect more on her story. I’m uncertain if she is a believer in Christ, but as I thought about and prayed for her future, I imagined the many ways God could bless this woman through her vulnerabilities. Because that’s just the kind of God we serve.
The story of this humble graduate student may resonate with you. If you find yourself in a similar place of discouragement, I want to offer encouragement to you too. Make no mistake in believing anything different about our vulnerability-shaping God. No matter the flaw, disadvantage, wound, failure, insecurity, disability, mistake, or struggle, we serve a God who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more with every ounce of who we are—more than we could ever dream or imagine. You see, this God we serve is a God who can generate miracles from mess. A Lord who can turn trauma into triumph. And a Father who can make wonders by way of our weaknesses.
We see God bring this to light in our anchor scripture this week. The setting of this scripture takes us to the story of Peter and John, two apostles who’d been on a journey to spread the gospel of Jesus throughout the land of Jerusalem by preaching, teaching, and performing miracles (Acts Chapter 3). After healing a lame man and preaching to a crowd of onlookers outside of a temple, they are seized by priests and a temple guard and placed in jail overnight. The next morning, the priests questioned Peter and John further, compelled by the miracle they performed the day before. In response, Peter stuns the priests in his eloquent and impassioned testimony of Christ (Acts Chapter 4). Here’s where it gets good, y’all: The priests were amazed by the expressions and insights of these apostles, despite the lowly background they knew them to have, and because of this discrepancy, they “took note that these men had been with Jesus” (v. 13).
Like Peter and John in this story, many of us can attest that God’s presence in our lives is the reason we transcend our ordinary and humble beginnings and imperfect pasts. We don’t look like what we’ve done or gone through because of God’s clever approach to molding and evolving us through and around our vulnerabilities to fulfill exactly what He’s called us to do. In fact, the Bible illustrates this through the stories of countless individuals. We see God use [1]:
Stuttering Moses—A wanted murderer and a person who is “slow of speech” who is called to lead the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus 3:1-22)
Angry David—An unassuming shepherd boy who grapples with the struggles of life and yet becomes the King of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
Humble Esther—A young Jewish girl who became queen of Persia and saved her people from annihilation (Esther 2:1-18)
Shameful Peter—A self-described “sinful man” who drops everything to follow Jesus and become a “fisher of man” (Luke 5:1-11)
Fearful Gideon—A man who hid in fear from the Midianites, but becomes a “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:1-16,7:17-25)
Imperfect Rahab—An innkeeper, and believed by some to be a harlot woman, who helps Israel inherit the promised land (Joshua 2:1-24)
Lowly Shepherds—Who were a despised profession, but were the first to learn and share the news that Christ had been born (Luke 2:8-20)
Pharisee Saul—A religious leader who persecuted Christians, but accepted Christ, transformed into Paul, and went on to write much of the New Testament (Acts 9:1-22)
Youthful Mary—A young virgin who becomes the mother of the Christ child (Luke 1:26-38)
A Common Samaritan Woman—A woman at the well who has a powerful interaction with Jesus, shares her story and helps many find salvation (John 4:1-42)
And the list goes on and on…because God stands on His business of using the unlikely or unsuspected to bring about His powerful Purpose. The best part of it all is God doesn’t ask for much to turn our setbacks into comebacks. All God needs from us to transform our vulnerabilities is a listening and obedient heart and the willingness to serve. With this, I pray you enter this week encouraged and faith-filled through every scar and imperfection.
May your struggles keep you near the cross
And may your troubles show that you need God
And may your battles end the way they should
And may your bad days prove that God is good
And may your whole life prove that God is good
Jonathan McReynolds
Reflection
What is resonating for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What personal vulnerabilities are you mindful of? What do you need from the Holy Trinity to help you feel encouraged in these vulnerabilities?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week
Romans 8: 18-39
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
James 1:2-4
1 Peter 1:3-7
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“Some people don't like you just because your strength reminds them of their weakness.
Don't let the hate slow you down.”
Thema Bryant-Davis
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