An Amazing Resource for the Sexually Harmed: God is for Me

When I look at a friend (or anyone), I want to believe they were raised in a loving home and carefully kept safe. I want to assume their marriage is beautiful and they are sheltered and cherished. I want to assume their life has been filled with delights.

Unfortunately, that's not always true. Too many women have been subject to abuse that decades later still haunt and grieve them.

I rarely post about nonfiction books, so when I do, pay attention. The nonfiction books I highlight offer incredible value. And, in some cases, healing. This book is special because it centers on Biblical characters who have suffered sexual harm.

I met Lisa Radcliff decades ago, when we both had little children in the same church nursery in Quakertown, PA. We reconnected a few years ago, and I was delighted to learn she was a writer, too. Since then, Lisa has published three books, with her latest, God is for Me, releasing on March 3rd.

Lisa has agreed to visit my blog so you can get to know her and her important work.

Lisa, why did you decide to write this book?

I wrote this book because the women I’ve spoken with over the last 30 years have a common belief—that the Bible doesn’t address sexual harm and/or that God doesn’t care about it. Both ideas are completely false. The Bible is full of stories of sexual harm, and God’s heart for the victims is quite clear. I hope that a woman who has suffered in some way can relate to some of the biblical women in the book and find who God is and that he is for her.

When did you know you were a writer? Did your speaking ministry evolve at the same time?

I always loved to write and started writing my story several times over many years. I taught creative writing to our homeschool group when my kids were young. But I didn’t write seriously until 2017. I had been sharing my story of overcoming sexual abuse for decades, but I was challenged to write a book. I couldn’t imagine someone would buy a book from me, but I liked the idea of writing a book. So, I finally sat down and started. I took my first chapter to a writer’s workshop, and the woman running it read it out loud (I thought I would die!) and said to me, “You are a writer.” That’s how it started. I joined her critique group and soaked up everything I could, and my first book was published in 2018. For me, the speaking came first, and then the writing. But the speaking really took off after my first book was published.

What is the passion that the Lord put in your heart for your ministry?

The passion the Lord has put in my heart for ministry is helping women find freedom in Jesus from their past. I am passionate about God’s Word—learning who He is and teaching it to others. I was in youth ministry for 35 years and still love it when I have an opportunity to teach teens and just hang out with them. But I’ve mostly transitioned to women’s ministry, and I love that, especially encouraging young moms.

What do you see as the deepest need in our culture?

There are so many deep needs in our culture! As it relates to my topic of sexual harm, I’d have to say it is where we are with gender issues. What I see coming is frightening. If we say that a six-year-old can decide what gender they are, then it is a very small step to have to say they can decide who they will have sex with and at what age. There is already a push from some fringe groups to make pedophilia legal. It seems preposterous to us, but I never thought there would be any question about what gender someone is. It’s basic science. The trauma implications for our children, even now in the gender debate, are enormous. When we add legalizing sexual harm, the trauma could be catastrophic.

What is the best advice you can give someone healing from sexual trauma?

My best advice is to understand that it’s not your fault. That seems to be the place that keeps a lot of women stuck. They think they were at fault, to blame, complicit, or in some way responsible for what happened to them. They were not. Sexual harm is never the fault of the victim. My next piece of advice would be to tell someone your story—just the basics, that you were harmed in some way. Talking about what happened to you is a very important step in the healing process. Just make sure it is with someone safe, someone who isn’t going to tell you to get over it or make some other unhelpful comment. It should be someone who will listen and say, “I’m sorry that happened to you.” The best place to find that might be in a support group where they understand the proper way to respond.

Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why? 

When my first book (Hidden With Christ: Breaking Free From the Grip of Your Past) came out, a 70-something-year-old man in my church came up to me and said his wife had bought my book. And I thought, how sweet. But then he said that he read it. He went on to tell me that something had happened to him when he was 12 years old, and he never felt free from it, but that my book helped him finally find freedom from it. I was blown away! He wasn’t my demographic. In that moment, God showed me that my story was going to have a much farther reach than I had ever thought.

What makes you feel alive?

That's an interesting question because I have a medical condition that often makes me feel dead! I should say it’s my nine grandchildren. I love them all dearly, but they make me feel more tired than alive. It truly is when I speak to groups of women. I love speaking in front of people. It invigorates me. And when I’m done, and someone comes up to me and says they have a similar story and feel hopeful or free because of what I shared, there is nothing else like that.

What other books have you written, whether published or not?

My first book is Hidden with Christ: Breaking Free from the Grip of Your Past. That one is my story of overcoming sexual abuse. I wrote it from the perspective of the heroes in my life who kept me from slipping into the darkness I felt around me. So, it’s a little different than a lot of abuse stories. My second book is A Time to Laugh: My Life Over Fifty. We all know that being over fifty is hilarious. I wrote that one, which is more of a devotional, filled with short stories and funny quotes from my grandchildren, because people who knew me my whole life had a hard time reconciling my joyful, fun personality with the story from my first book. So, I thought I would share how I see God in everyday stuff, usually in humorous ways. And they are all true stories—yes, that stuff actually happened to me.

How can readers find your book on the Internet?

Readers can find my books on Amazon. Or they can invite me to speak to their women’s group, and I’ll bring books with me. 😉

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Lisa Radcliff is an old friend of mine, and I love that she has learned to break free from the bonds of abuse and has found freedom in Christ. If you're suffering in silence, buy Lisa's book and trust that the Lord has healing for you, too.