Do you ever wonder if God will give back what you lost? In order words, do you wish that He would restore what you lost? Or do you sometimes want to go back in time and change everything around?

Often, we wonder what we could have done better to stop things from happening in our past. Then reality hits, and unfortunately, we remember that we are only human. And we understand that we have no control over time, and there is no way we can regain what we lost in our past.

Since this website focuses on helping survivors of CSA (Child Sexual Abuse), today, we will specifically discuss how God is willing and ready to restore what the enemy took from them.

If you are a survivor of CSA, a loved one, or you know someone who went through this horrific traumatic event, this is the right place to be. Because I believe God has something for you. 

And for survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, I pray that what we discuss in this article today gives you hope that God will give back what you lost. Hopefully, you will leave this page aware of the many strategies the enemy uses on people.

Without further delay, let’s see what the Bible says about restoration. Throughout the Bible, we often see how God restores people’s lives. People would give up on their hard work several times, but ultimately, He would turn everything around.

Joseph’s story is one of the Bible stories that can show us how God can reward us for the many tears we cried. But before we go into detail about how Joseph’s life was restored, let’s take a closer look at what really happened in the lives of survivors of CSA throughout the years.

For CSA survivors, the enemy (Satan) stole from you more than you can imagine. You must know what has been taken away from you before you claim what we need back in your lives.

And for CSA survivors, the enemy (Satan) stole from you more than you can imagine.

The things that the enemy stole from you

In the Scriptures, Jesus tells us that Satan aims to steal, kill, and destroy. His ultimate goal is to overreach all God gave you and ruin it for good. And destroying your childhood was only the beginning of the plan.

"The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here are some of the treasures the enemy stole from you through CSA:

• Purity
• Honor
• Safety 
• Identity
• Respect 
• Dignity/self-worth
• A joyful childhood
• Your human rights 
• Rights over your body
• Sanity (the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health)
• and much more 

And as a result of CSA, you find yourself stuck in a dysfunctional lifestyle. Today, let God expose all these hidden aftermath consequences of those sexual abuses.

Aftermath consequences

Before we go any further, if you are a survivor of CSA and you are reading this, I want to clarify that what happened to you was NEVER your fault. Unfortunately, self-blame is one of the most common aftermath consequences survivors struggle with.

Understandably, dealing with being a CSA survivor is complicated enough on its own. However, blaming yourself for what happened makes it even harder.

Here are some of the consequences or behaviors you may have been experiencing throughout the years: 

• An immoral sexual lifestyle. It makes you feel like you have no control over your own body. Often, you don’t understand why you are living such a destructive lifestyle.

• As mentioned before, self-blame is one of the common tactics Satan uses on rape victims. The enemy wants to make you feel like you caused it to happen. 

• For years, you have been feeling like your life has no value.

• Fear of getting in trouble if you tell someone 

• Threatened to get hurt if you ever tell on the perpetrator/abuser

• You have this anger that turns into a rage whenever you are triggered. 

• Inability to trust people (feeling like everyone is out to get you.)

• Hateful beliefs toward others 

• Revengeful tendencies

• Isolation tendencies

• You hide away and are easily scared.

• Always ready to go to war against the world for any little reason

• Suicidal thoughts 

• Confused Identity (confused and corrupted mindset)

• Mental health issues 

• And much more 

Note: If you are interested in learning more about what is Child sexual abuse and its aftermath consequences, I wrote an article that talks about “CSA Survivors” in further detail.

Now let’s see:

What happens when God restores your life

It’s unfortunate that some people, after living a dysfunctional lifestyle for such a long time, don’t seem to be bothered by it. However, for those who wondered if their life would ever be any different, rest assured that there is hope for you. 

If you often cried out to God: 

"Wake up, O LORD! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us [me] forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our [my] suffering and oppression? We [I] collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt. Rise up! Help us [me]! Ransom us [me] because of your unfailing love."

Psalms‬ ‭44‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

*Note: Words with […] were added into the verses so they can speak to you personally.

If you have been crying out these words for a while, I pray that you would rest assured because the LORD God is willing and ready to wipe your tears away.

So here are what happens when the LORD restores your life:

• He restores you to Himself by snatching you out of Satan’s claws for good.

• You feel clean and pure again when He turns your life upside down. 

• No need to hide away anymore because God covers you now. 

• Mental health/sanity is sound again.

• Safety granted

• The renewal of your mind daily

• Clarity and supernatural wisdom 

•  You get a different perspective on how you see things.

• He removes the blindfold covering your eyes so that you can see how destructive your life has been.

• He turns endless nights filled with tears into laughter and joyful days.

• God becomes that one friend who never leaves you.

• The need to numb the pain with substance abuse, heavy drinking, and toxic relationships is gone because He takes away your unquenchable thirst.

• Your desires are not the same anymore. 

• This perverted society doesn’t impress you anymore.

• The anxiety you experienced for years goes away.

• Feeling unsafe is gone. 

• There is this inner part of you that springs forth. And you get to see the beauty, talents, and potential hidden in you.

• The future is clear now. At last, a straight path is ahead of you.

• Resilience becomes one of your companions. Now you refuse to shrink back, hideaway, or shy away like you used to.
• You will start learning how to forgive someone wholeheartedly.

Note: Click this link if you are interested in learning more about “Forgiving and Moving on.”

Now let’s use Joseph’s story as an example of how the enemy ruined your childhood.

A restoration story

As mentioned earlier, being ripped off precious treasures God gave you is one of the enemy’s favorite destructive tactics. Throughout the Bible, there are multiple cases where we see how innocent people got ripped off of their most valuable treasures even though they did nothing to deserve it.

We also briefly discussed how God showed up in Joseph’s life after he went through a series of unfair incidents. In Genesis, two incidents happened involving Joseph’s precious robe/cloak. In both incidents, we see how his attackers ripped off his robe/cloak before sinning against him.

1st incident:

The first incident happened when his brothers decided to sell him into slavery to the Egyptians.

Here is how it happened:  

"So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it."

Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

2nd incident: 

The second incident happened in Egypt when his Master’s wife kept asking him to sleep with her. 

"She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 

She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, "Come on, sleep with me!" Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house."

Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In both incidents, Joseph was minding his business when they happened. However, his attackers premeditated on their crimes, and when the accusation presented itself, they went for it. The sad part is that his attackers used the same item (robe/cloak) as evidence against him when covering their crimes.

Joseph’s brothers:

After selling him into slavery like he meant nothing to them, they used the same item to cover up their crime.

"Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph's robe in its blood. They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: "Look at what we found. Doesn't this robe belong to your son?" 

Their father recognized it immediately. "Yes," he said, "it is my son's robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!"

Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭31‬-‭33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Potiphar’s wife

When Joseph turned down her offer and ran away from the house, Potiphar’s wife used his cloak as proof of attempted rape. As a result, the cloak became a piece of incriminating evidence in this story leading to Joseph’s imprisonment. 

"She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. Then she told him her story. "That Hebrew slave you've brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me," she said. " "But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!" 

Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife's story about how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king's prisoners were held, and there he remained."

Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭16‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When Joseph’s life got restored

Now let’s see how we serve a God who is faithful. After Joseph spent two years in prison, the LORD elevated him and made him the Ruler of Egypt. And guess what? God used the exact item (fine clothes) the day He restored Joseph’s honor.

"Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck."

"Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, "Kneel down!" So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt."

Genesis‬ ‭41‬:‭41‬-‭43 NLT‬‬

I hope you clearly understand how God’s restoration pattern works by now. You see, the first two incidents happened in secret. No eyewitness was around to speak on behalf of Joseph. His attackers seemed to have complete power over his life.

But the day God restored his life, He publicly dressed him in fine linen clothes in front of thousands of eyewitnesses. See how we serve an amazing God!

So what is your robe/cloak? 

Hopefully, by now, you understand that we are no longer talking about robes, cloaks, and fine linen clothes. But we are talking about the treasures the enemy ripped off from your childhood.

Treasures such as:

• Your human rights 
• Purity
• Dignity
• Honor
• Respect 
• Safety 
• self-worth.
• The joy of being a kid
• and much more 

As you can see from Joseph’s story, the enemy targeted you right before you even knew evil existed. And some of you can relate to this story. Now you understand that God will give back what you lost.

When these incidents (CSA) happened, you did nothing to cause them to happen. And by the time you started to experience the aftermath consequences, the enemy began to bring accusations to God about your case blaming you for it.

Accusations such as:

• “She should have known better not to go in there with him.”

• “Why didn’t he tell his parents what happened in that boarding school?”

• “She shouldn’t have trusted her cousin that much.”

• “That boy saw what that teacher did to his friend, yet he stayed and got hurt. The boy is the one to blame and no one else.”

Some of these accusations might be familiar because you have heard them for years. And yes, each time you listen to them, they only provoke painful emotions in your heart. 

As mentioned earlier, as a survivor of CSA, you need to understand that what happened to you was NEVER your fault but your abuser’s fault. And unfortunately, your abuser/perpetrator might have come up with some excuses to cover their crime.

Just like Joseph’s brothers and Potiphar’s wife, your abuser had/has evil motives behind their actions. Therefore, don’t ever blame yourself for what happened to you.

And now that you get to see how the enemy used your abuser(s) to ruin your childhood behind closed doors, may you be encouraged as you go to the next step.

What’s next

I pray that you will approach God and ask Him to redeem what you lost from this day forward because God will give back what you lost and beyond what you can imagine.

Whenever you have time today, find a quiet place, and be in the presence of God. Open up your heart to Him. And ask Him to redeem what the enemy took away from you. 

And as you remain in His presence and trust the restoration process, you will be amazed to see how different your life will become afterward. Also, write down everything you desire to see in your life. 

Whenever you feel like there is no way God will give back what you lost, always hold on to this verse:

"I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel [you] to seek me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right."

Isaiah‬ ‭45‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

*Note: Words with […] were added into the verses so they can speak to you personally.

As you meditate on this Word, let this song Retore by Zion City, give you hope about what He says about you. And that God will give you what you lost.

In Brief 

We saw how the enemy targeted you from when you were a kid. Now you know the enemy’s purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy everything God gave you. 

As years go by, you find yourself suffering the aftermath consequences of what happened. However, you no longer need to live that lifestyle because God will give you what you lost. 

His Word says His purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life. God promises to publicly restore whatever the enemy stole from you behind closed doors when no one was watching.  

Let me pray for you before you go: 

“Father God, I thank you for your love and mercy. I praise Your name for the person reading this article. No matter how they ended up here, I praise Your Holy name that You were able to minister to them.

May they start seeing You differently from this day forward. I pray that You will soften their hearts and speak tenderly to them. Draw them near to You and make Yourself known to them.

I pray that You will redeem what your sons and daughters lost from the enemy due to child sexual abuse. 

Father God, may You come and restore Your people. In Jesus’ mighty name, I pray. Amen!