The Ones Who Saved Me First
Much of this story won’t be told in order.
Some things in my life unraveled slowly. Some came all at once. But if there’s one thing I’ve come to believe- it’s nothing happens until the time is right.
Not the breaking.
Not the rebuilding.
Not even the remembering.
Sometimes God prepares the rescue long before we know we’ll need it.
I was still young when someone first planted a seed of faith in me- a Sunday school teacher who gently taught me how to look up a Bible verse. She had a way of speaking that made me feel seen instead of small. Because of her, I wanted to attend a summer camp. That camp became the first place I ever felt God urging me to surrender.
I remember asking a friend to walk up to the alter call with me. She didn’t go.
But I practically ran.
That was the first time I felt God tug at my heart. The fist time I realized He wasn’t distant-He was calling me by name.
Years later, before Best Friend and I married, he asked me if i wanted to return to church.
At first, I resisted. Old fear, old shame, old patterns-they all still echoed.
But he didn’t push. He didn’t guilt me. He simply stood beside me…and waited.
Eventually, we began going to church regularly together. And little by little, something inside me woke up again.
One of the Deepest Rescues Came at My Lowest Point
Before Best Friend was my husband, before he was the steady presence I now lean on, he became something else:
A refuge.
When I left my first husband, I left with my boys, my fear, and little else. For a few nights-longer than anyone should-I stayed in my car.
I kept driving, afraid to park. Afraid someone would find us. Afraid someone would take my boys if they knew how desperate things had become.
When a friend discovered the truth, he threatened to call the police-
“Those boys deserve better.”
But then something unexpected happened:
He didn’t just point out the problem. He became the solution.
He offered us a place to stay- no judgement, no conditions, no expiration date.
Just safety. Just shelter.
Just love dressed in kindness.
That friend…
is now my husband.
Long before I understood God’s plans for my life, God used him to save me in a moment when I had nothing left to hold onto.
He didn’t rescue me from shame. He rescued me from believing I had to walk alone.
❤️🩹The People Who Saved Me Next
Along the way, there were countless others who encouraged my faith to grow. For someone who once felt like a self-proclaimed orphan. I suddenly found myself adopted by my husband’s people- quietly, naturally, without earning it.
If I’m honest, they are the ones who pushed me to want more for my life.
Not more strength.
Not more perfection.
Not more pretending.
More belonging. More purpose. More God.
They treated me like I mattered. They cared without asking for performance. They welcomed me without shrinking me.
Coming from a childhood shaped by survival, this felt like stepping into sunlight after years of growing in the shadows.
I realized something important:
We don’t return to the gardens that break us. We grow in the gardens that heal us.
Some people appeared for only a moment- just long enough to lift my chin when I wanted to fall. Others arrived like surprise blessings, and instantly I knew I wanted to stay close to them.
But I was hesitant.
I knew what I had been in the garden that raised me. I knew the roles I learned to play. For a long time, I hid the person I was becoming
And then life demanded vulnerability-through surgeries, setbacks, weakness, and uncertainty.
And in that rawness, my faith deepened.
Because surrender does what survival never can:
It reveals how God has been carrying you long before you knew how to ask for help.
🪢The Thread Running Through Every Rescue
Through every moment, one truth has become undeniable:
God has a plan.
But He won’t force me to stay in old places.
I can cling to what once felt familiar, or I can surrender and see the beauty of what He’s been building all along.
The ones who saved me first weren’t perfect. They weren’t superhuman.
They were simply willing- ordinary people placed in extraordinary moments to protect the tender sprout of faith growing inside me until I was strong enough to grow on my own.
And through them, God whispered:
You were made to grow.
Not just survive-grow.
📖Scripture Reading
Isaiah 41:10-13 (ASV)
10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yes, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11. Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded; they shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13. For I, Jehovah thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee
✨Scripture Summary
Isaiah 41 is spoken to people who are afraid, overwhelmed, and unsure how they will make it forward. God does not minimize their fear, and He does not shame their weakness.
Instead, He steps closer.
He promises presence before relief. Strength before certainty. Help before answers.
God says, “I will uphold you,” not because the road is safe, but because you are not meant to walk it alone.
When He says He will “take hold of your right hand,” He is describing a deeply personal rescue- the kind that steadies someone who is already stumbling. This is not a distant God watching from above. This is a God who reaches down and holds on.
And often, that hand is extended through others.
Through the people God places in our lives at just the right moment. Through unexpected kindness. Through open doors when we have nowhere else to go. Through patience when we resist. Through presence when we are exhausted.
Isaiah reminds us that God’s help does not always come as an instant escape. Sometimes it comes as someone willing to stand beside us until we can stand again.
This is the kind of rescue that saves us first- not by fixing everything, but by keeping us from falling apart when healing begins.
🌱Why This Matters for us
Many of us are taught that being strong mean being independent. That asking for help is weakness. That survival is something we’re supposed to manage quietly.
But Isaiah shows us a different kind of strength.
A strength that comes from being held, not from holding everything together.
God does not wait until we are steady to step in. He reaches for us when we are afraid, exhausted, and unsure how to keep going. And often, He does it through the people we least expect.
This matters because many of us have stories where rescue didn’t look dramatic- it looked like a place to stay, a person who waited, a hand extended instead of judgement.
It matters because faith does not always grow in moments of certainty. Sometimes it grows in borrowed safety. In shared burdens. In the quiet realization that we don’t have to survive alone anymore.
God’s promise in Isaiah isn’t that we will never struggle. It’s that we will not struggle without support.
And when we allow ourselves to receive that help-when we stop resisting the hand God offers- we begin to understand that surrender is not giving up.
It is letting ourselves be carried until we are strong enough to walk again.
🌿Reflection Questions
Who were the first people God used to protect or steady you, even before you recognized it as rescue? How did their presence shape your ability to trust or believe later?
When you have resisted help because you felt you you should be strong on your own? What beliefs made receiving support feel uncomfortable?
Where in your life has God extended His hand through another person? How did that moment change the direction of your story?
Are there places where you are still surviving instead of surrendering? What would it look like to let someone walk beside you?
How has being helped shaped the way you now show up for others? In what ways has God used your rescue to make you more compassionate?
💚Rooted Reminder
You were never meant to rescue yourself.
Needing help doe not make you weak. Receiving support does not make you dependent. Being carried for a season does not disqualify you from strength.
God often sends people before He sends answers. He places hands in our lives before He removes the weight. He offers refuge before resolution.
The ones who saved you first were not accidental. They were evidence that God saw you long before you knew how to ask for help.
And just as you were held, you now carry the ability to hold others with the same grace.
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are not alone.
You are rooted in a God who reaches for you- again and again.
🙏Closing Prayer
Lord, thank You for reaching for me before I knew how to reach for You. Thank You for the people You placed in my life to steady me when I was afraid, exhausted, and unsure how to keep going.
Help me remember that needing help is not failure- it is faith in motion. Teach me to receive support with humility and to offer it with compassion.
When I am tempted to return to survival instead of surrender, remind me that You are still holding my hand.
Root me deeply in Your presence, strengthen me through the people You send, and use my story to bring hope to someone else who is still finding their footing.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
