Women in Pain: Broken but in the Potter's Hands

By Cassandra Hall

And the vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make (Jeremiah 18:4).

Women in Pain is a sequel to my first book, The Stages of Womanhood: Partnering with God to Birth His Will in Your Life. In birthing the will of God, pain is inevitable as it is in giving birth naturally. There is bound to be an oasis in the midst of every desert. This book helps the reader to find ones oasis in the midst of that painful event. The reader is helped to find that innate strength in order to push through and overcome the pain and come into the original will of God for ones life.

In this book, Women in Pain, Cassandra has unraveled the mystery surrounding physical and emotional pain when its presented to God and has highlighted how to hold on until change comes. Scriptures have been shared that will encourage women to look beyond the pain (Psalm 121:12) and look up to God, who is able to bring back to life the things that are dead in their lives. Cassandra has reminded us that storms do not rage forever. It stops at some point, and the sun shines again. I deem this book a healing manual indeed! Such an incredible insight not only for women; it is a must-read for everyone (Reverend Victoria Beecham).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Feb 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514448847

Cassandra Hall

Cassandra Hall is a registered nurse-midwife by profession. Her current ministry is focused on intercessory prayer and teaching the Word of God. She has a great passion for assisting women to discover and develop their God-given potential.

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© 2016 by Cassandra Hall.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2016901453

         ISBN:               Hardcover                       978-1-5144-4886-1

                                 Softcover                          978-1-5144-4885-4

                                 eBook                                978-1-5144-4884-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/08/2016

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

731210

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Endorsements

Foreword

Introduction

A Sister’s Testimony   A Pain-Overcoming Woman

Chapter 1     When Pain Is Not a Bad Thing

Chapter 2     The Reason for the Pain

Chapter 3     It Hurts Like Hell

Chapter 4     The Bitterness Within

Chapter 5     Will This Pain End?

Chapter 6     I Am All Alone

Chapter 7     Deciding to Let Someone In

Chapter 8     It’s Not So Bad after All

Chapter 9     Let Go and Let God

Chapter 10     It’s All Over, and I Made It Through

Dedication

It is with much love, gratitude, and appreciation in my heart that I dedicate this book to my big sis, my enabler and encourager unto the Lord, Mrs Sharon Grey. Big sis, the Lord has done it again, with all praise, honor, and glory going to Him. You have been a faithful friend and my birthing partner in this process. I thank God for your life! This one too is for you, sis, with love!

To my little sister, my friend, and my spiritual daughter, Clarise Naa Aku Shika Brown, I dedicate this book also to you, and I hope it will be a treasured legacy not just to you but to your children and your children’s children. This is for you with love!

For all women of diverse ethnicity and cultural background, wherever you are in your life, as you read this book, may the Lord transform your lives and grant you healing, wholeness, and total recovery and restoration. May you be reconnected with the original intent of God for your lives that you may live an abundant life in Him.

Acknowledgments

Every praise, honor, glory, thanksgiving, and adoration goes to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Without God on my side, I am nothing; with Him, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Lord, I thank You for Your grace and mercy toward me. I owe You my all, and I am eternally grateful to be called Your servant and daughter.

To Mr Kofi Appau and Mrs Nancy Appau (auntie and uncle), only the Lord knows what you do in secret, and it is certain that He will reward you openly. I am honored to be a part of your lives.

Mabelline Appiah Baaba, thank you for all your help and legal advice. I am grateful to you and to God. May the Lord bless you continually.

Endorsements

Women in Pain is an eye-opener that makes you discover the oil in you that will get you out of your hurt and pain. Cassandra is a gift of God to the body of Christ. I am convinced that if readers will reflect and act on the issues she has raised in the book, their lives will emerge more purposeful. It is a must-buy book for every believer. Read it, and your life will never be the same.

Rev. Elizabeth Clad

Associate General Overseer

Ablaze Chapel International

Women in Pain is a read-and-think book containing many selah moments. I am delighted to recommend this book to my sisters in my ministry to bring them to the understanding that painful experiences are valuable. For me, this book is a handbook of restoration. I congratulate the author and praise God for the gift to the body of Christ, which will definitely help to heal, restore, and build the kingdom.

Evangelist Dawne Austin

Woman2Woman Ministry

Women in Pain helps one to discover an inner potential, which without going through pain one may never know. Cassandra’s book helps one to discover an innate strength through times of adversities.

Cassandra Hall is a woman with a gift in prophetic prayers, and God is using her to write dynamic books in this time of challenges. I will recommend this book to every man and woman. As you reflect on past and present pain, it also opens your eyes to your inner strength.

Minister Mrs Linda Barry-Adjokatse

Associate General Overseer

Triumphant Outreach Ministry

Accra, Ghana

And the vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Jeremiah 18:4

Foreword

The Bible declares in Psalm 30:5b that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. Pain is inevitable in the journey of life, but in this unique book, Cassandra has thrown light on the types of pain (physical and emotional), what pain is, and how we can channel it for it to benefit us and those whose path will cross with ours in life.

Cassandra, a midwife by profession, is able to describe what pain really is. She has seen women come into the labor ward in so much pain, weeping and in agony, but after a while beams with smiles and joy when the baby is born, forgetting the pain and not being able to describe the pain anymore.

In this book, Women in Pain, Cassandra has unraveled the mystery surrounding physical and emotional pain when it’s presented to God and has highlighted how to hold on until change comes. Scriptures have been shared that will encourage women to look beyond the pain (Psalm 121:1–2) and look up to God, who is able to bring back to life even things that are dead in their lives. Cassandra has reminded us that storms do not rage forever. It stops at some point, and the sun shines again.

I deem this book a healing manual indeed! Such an incredible insight not only for women; it is a must-read for everyone.

Reverend Victoria Beecham

Senior Pastor

Action Chapel International (UK)

Milton Keynes

Introduction

Women in Pain is a book inspired by the Holy Spirit; it is scripture-based and has been put together using the Bible as the main point of reference. It teaches one how to birth the will of God through painful and challenging situations. It addresses real-life issues that are confronted by many women in one way or another. While doing so, the book gives practical solution from the Word of God which, when applied, will help you to live a victorious life irrespective of the hurt, pain, and emotional wound one experiences.

There is bound to be an oasis in the midst of every desert. Women in Pain helps the reader to find his or her oasis in the midst of that painful event—be it past or present. This book helps the reader to find that innate strength in order to push through and overcome the pain and come into the original will and intent of God for one’s life.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). The aim of this book is to enable the reader to see and know that no matter how painful the event is, it is all working for his or her good. Irrespective of the hurt and challenges, the call of God is upon your life, and if you allow Him to lead you in the midst of this test you are going through, the testimony of the Lord will be birthed.

Although my writing is focused on women, I will not neglect the well-known truth that men also experience painful and crippling events in their lives. I pray that this book will bring liberty, strength, and encouragement to both male and female readers.

I sincerely hope that workshops, teachings, and preaching will be inspired by the topics and contents of this book to bring total healing, restoration, and wholeness to those broken and crippled by hurt and pain. May the Lord Himself heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds by His Holy Spirit and through the revelations in this book.

As part of the introduction to this book, the Lord laid it on my heart on completion of the manuscript to have someone without a name or title write one of the endorsements for this book. I was led by the Holy Spirit to give the unpublished manuscript to a sister to read after the Lord led me to minister to her the things He had revealed to me in this book. After having a conversation with her regarding what the Lord had requested of her, she rather asked if after reading the book she could write her testimony in the book. I consented to the sister’s request, not knowing what the Lord had prepared beforehand.

I asked her to be honest in how the book Women in Pain affected her life, if it did any at all. The Lord wanted to minister the truth of His Word written in this book to a broken vessel to bring restoration, wholeness, and total recovery. Jehovah wanted someone to stand as a witness to His Word and promises, and He needed someone who was once broken to become another’s encourager and enabler through His Holy Spirit, hence the testimony of my sister.

My sister in Christ, on behalf of all the women and men whose lives will be changed and transformed by your testimony and on behalf of all the broken vessels that will be mended by the Lord through your testimony, I express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude. I appreciate and love you, and I thank the Lord for your life. You are truly a blessing.

May God complete all that He has started in you because this is His promise to all: Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

May the readers be blessed and encouraged by the testimony that follows, knowing that God is no respecter of persons and He will bring a turn-around in your life as He did in the life of His beloved daughter.

A Sister’s Testimony

A Pain-Overcoming Woman

After reading Women in Pain, I came to the conclusion that pain is an unavoidable part of life. Furthermore, I gained better understanding of how the Lord uses negatives to transform lives (if we let Him). Despite your circumstances, you must encounter pain. Whether you are a Holy Spirit–filled, tongues-speaking believer or not, pain is inevitable at some point in your life! I can recommend that every person, especially the ladies, should pick up this book to learn strategies and knowledge for that day when pain comes knocking. That way, you will know what to do. Had I read this book earlier, so much would have been different for me.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Yahweh for giving me this platform to tell you about a transforming few years of my life and to encourage you that the Lord is using this painful situation or will use a painful situation to bring you closer to Him, to elevate you, to keep you rooted in Him, to prove to you and those watching your life that He is the only one with the final say! Be encouraged, my sister, my brother, that this painful time is a door open to fast-track and accelerate you to where God needs you to be.

I pray that as you read my shortcomings and testimony, the Lord will open your eyes and shine His light on your circumstance to bring a change of heart and mind to all which concern you. The battlefield of your mind, heart, soul, and spirit is won in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen! Use this book as a manual to free yourself from the baggage you are carrying, for nothing from the Lord can dwell in darkness. Use this manual to put out the trash so that the Spirit of God can fill you. The new wine God is pouring into you cannot be contained in the same old skins—or worst still, with old wine in the old skins.

Please come with me on a short journey to the last few years of my life to better understand what sister Cass is talking about. I have spent too many tears on the phone with this warrior of God, and I have used the advice from this manual to overcome my emotions and remain in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will choose to use somebody unexpected and unfamiliar to encourage you to go back to Him or overcome a particular situation so that you know that it is God and not your connections, strategies, or manipulations.

Without further ado, my change of heart came when I lost everything—my self-esteem and self-worth, my businesses, my husband, my health, my family, my friends, and finally, my relationship with the Lord. The barrenness of barren was I. What a shock! Sister Cass started by telling us that pain is not a bad thing because in my case it was the beginning of my breakthrough, but I couldn’t see it. There is always a reason for the pain even if it is uncontrollably painful. The pain I experienced brought bitterness which norm my emotions and brought out anger, jealousy, and all manner of emotions I didn’t know I had.

I had a fairy-tale story, the sort of life that most women would love. Unfortunately, it ended sad, and I was hurt and very miserable. Everything seemed to be falling apart, including my marriage, business, finance, and self-esteem. I was in financial hardship but still wanted to keep going. I then started organizing an event because I heard the Holy Spirit say to put on a praise concert, but I thought it was then. When I shared with some key people, they mocked and laughed. Some said, If the Holy Spirit asked you, it will come to pass. Others said, It will not work. Some even helped until they got what they wanted from it and left. Money I had borrowed to register the organization and to get going needed to be paid back, which I did almost a year later.

Support was far away, and although my sister in the Lord tried to be of help, God was saying He is more than enough for me. Unfortunately, I was focused on what people were saying.