Attorney Sharon Muse was kidnapped and almost raped by a hardened criminal when she got the chance to escape. Her ordeal was far from over as she was filled with so much fear and unforgiveness. This is her testimony of deliverance and how God saved her from making a wrong decision.
The crime
Sharon just got off from work when suddenly she was approached by a man who asked for help with his wife’s will. She willingly accommodated him and even agreed to give the man a ride after.
What she didn’t know was that the stranger she rode with was Hank Smith, a client she had represented in an arraignment years before. He later on was convicted and spent six years in jail until he finally got out and went to find Sharon. He blamed her for the imprisonment and set out to get revenge against her.
They were already on the road when Hank started becoming violent and forced her to drive to an abandoned farm house. There, he slammed her head into the console, held her down, and ripped off her top. With a knife to her throat, he told her, “This is for those years in prison.”
They had a power struggle when Sharon refused Hank’s order to take off her pants. Suddenly, Hank was pulled off of her as if by some unseen force. She had the chance to escape, so she ran and screamed for help. Fortunately, a couple driving by stopped and helped her. Police came and Hank was apprehended at the scene, where Sharon later on learned that he intended to rape, torture and kill her. She knew right then and there that God showed up that day and saved her from the hands of evil.
The spiritual struggle
Sharon’s perpetrator was already behind bars, but her ordeal was far from over. Due to trauma, she was always on high alert. She couldn’t sleep well, she was losing weight and then gaining weight again. She had so much fear and anxiety that it almost felt like she was in prison herself.
It got even worse when Hank’s trial was delayed because of mishandled evidence and technicalities. That’s when she decided to take matters into her own hands. She plotted revenge on Hank, believing that what she was going to do was a proactive self-defense, she waited for her chance to execute.
The turning point
Before Sharon got to carry out her plan, she accepted an invitation to attend a church retreat. They were asked to write out their sins and struggles that kept them from God. That’s when she started hearing God speak to her about Hank.
He asked her to forgive her perpetrator, not because he deserved and earned it, but because God has forgiven her, and He has given her the ability to forgive. “I physically felt different,” Sharon said. “When I stood up from kneeling and praying, I felt like I was 20 pounds lighter.”
She realized that God had not only saved her physically, but spiritually as well. She was set free from her anger and unforgiveness. Over the next 5 years, she braved two trials where Hank was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment. She still gets afraid on some days, but she chooses to forgive every day.
