Susan Rodgers - Hidden Scars

HIDDEN SCARS by Susan Rodgers
Published by Creation House
A Charisma Media Company
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
www.charismamedia.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked amp are from the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary English, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Design Director: Bill Johnson
Cover design by Nancy Panaccione

Copyright 2011 by Susan Rodgers
All rights reserved

Visit the authors websites: fojministries.org and newdministries.org

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2011942170
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-820-1
E-book International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-821-8

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

First edition

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Printed in the United States of America

It is an honor for me to endorse Hidden Scars by Susan Rodgers. This book will encourage and strengthen all who experience it. Susan not only shares the most difficult times in the life of one of Gods most anointed vessels, but tracks the journey she had to endure to survive it. Although the book is entitled Hidden Scars, Susan is transparent in her delivery and dynamic in her Godinspired revelations of how to overcome the hurt and pain that lead to ministry and servitude. Women all over the world will rejoice to know all things really do work together for the good of those who love and trust in God. As you read this book, you will discover her pain is real, her devotion to ministry is evident, and her love of God is unsurpassed.

TERRY MARR, BSN, MSN, MHA
PASTOR, NEW LIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Susan Rodgers is a daughter in the Lord whom I hold in high esteem. As the Lord healed her heart, she has used the healing to help both men and women. Susan loves the Lord and loves Gods people and wants the very best for the people of God. Her writing will bless anyone who reads it.

LORENZO KELLY
JURISDICTIONAL BISHOP, SOUTH DAKOTA
CHURCHES OF GOD IN CHRIST

My wife endured the horrible act and subsequent effects of molestation for many years, but instead of becoming stuck and bitter, she made the decision to seek deliverance. I witnessed the Holy Spirit lead and guide her down the path of deliverance. Susan then made the awesome decision to obey God and share her story of Hidden Scars. Though its common now, it was not common twenty years ago when she started sharing her story in order to help others. I know that this book will help and minister to everyone who reads it, everyone who thought it only happened to them, and everyone that has hidden scars.

Susan and I have served in ministry together since the late Eighties. I know that she loves God and His people. I am blessed to call her my wife and those who read Hidden Scars will be blessed that shes an author.

ADRIAN R. RODGERS
PASTOR, FULLNESS OF JOY AND
NEW DIMENSIONS MINISTRIES

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my mother, Helen Mildred Russell, a beautiful, intelligent woman whose strength and nurturing gave her children the courage to dream, to love, and to try.

To my husband, Adrian R. Rodgers, you are my soul mate and best friend. Your love is the fulfillment of my childhood dreams. You loved me, believed in me, supported and nurtured me while my scars healed. You are a gift from God!

To my children, Adrian Charles and Brianna, you are a blessing to my life. You both have grown into such intelligent, talented and responsible adults that my heart is full of pride and thanksgiving. I love you both more than you will ever know.

To my brothers and sisters, I love and appreciate you all for your many different gifts and strengths.

To the covenant partners of Fullness of Joy and New Dimensions, you are my extended family. Thank you for loving and believing in me. You have cried with me and rejoiced with me. I cant wait until we all see the vision unfold together.

To my beloved father, the late Johnny Kearney, thank you for pursuing me with fervent love in my adulthood. Your persistence healed a childhood scar and taught me the blessing of a fathers love.

T HE WRITING OF this book is a mandate from God. It is the one thing that has been prophesied to me more times that I can remember by perfect strangers. It has been hard for me to write because it has forced me to put into black and white the most difficult journey of my life. But if sharing my story can help anyone find healing or purpose, then I gladly sow the story of my life, my struggles, my mistakes, and my triumphs.

So many people have courageously shared their painful stories of abuse. There are so many awesome books, teachers, and counselors that I hesitate to tell my own story. But I feel called to share it. In many respects, as many popular preachers have said, My mess has become my message. What the enemy sent to destroy me, God has taken and used to set captives free. This is not a book that bewails the sinful and physical crimes that were committed against me as much as it is about the amazing deliverance that God has manifested in my life over the years. By deliverance I dont mean an overnight process by which all the strongholds and demons of my life were exorcized, but rather the process of the Holy Spirit revealing mental and emotional scars left in my soul by the trauma of my past. This process also included the acceptance of Gods Word as my truth, the casting down of my old thoughts, speech and lifestyle; and the intentional, progressive application of that truth daily in my mind and in my mouth, which changed my life forever. The process still continues. The more I help others, the more I am helped.

The term hidden scars developed when the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me all of the emotional and physical baggage that I was carrying as a result of the trauma of my childhood. Many of us are aware that we have scars but we dont always understand how our present scars are connected to our past. We think our scars are who we are, not understanding that many of them materialized when we were victimized, abandoned or rejected. Maybe molesters dont realize that the damage they do in the life of a child is so much more than physical. The trauma is not over at the end of the physical act; it is only just beginning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO give special thanks and love to my spiritual father, Bishop Lorenzo Kelly. His fatherly tenderness and prophetic direction brought focus to my scattered soul. He saw value in me before I could see it myself.

I would like to thank and honor Bishop Charles Rodgers. His teaching and passion for excellence gave me a foundation that can never be shaken.

Thanks to Pastor Lenard Hardaway, who taught me to love the Word of God when I was just a teenager.