Wounded Woman Be Ye Healed-Passing On A Legacy

By Desiree M Webb

Our churches are emptying. Could it be because of wounding? Many people leave and don't look back because of being wounded by wounded people. Rank is no determinant of healing as wounding affects all levels and ages. Hurtful words, interactions, and behaviors are often due to unhealed emotional wounds. Jesus is concerned about the sheep that are runaway and those who stay in an unhealed condition, wounding others. The church cannot minister victory to others effectively if it is sick emotionally. To this end, Desiree has turned the lights on in hopes of facilitating victorious healing in the body of Christ. Let this book start the conversation and the healing that we might truly reflect victory and enjoy true unity and fellowship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635253849

Book preview

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WOUNDED

Woman

Be Ye Healed-Passing On A Legacy

Desiree M Webb

ISBN 978-1-63525-383-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63525-385-6 (Hard Cover)

ISBN 978-1-63525-384-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Desiree M Webb

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is my peace and song; my dear husband, Paul; and my family (biologically and spiritually).

Acknowledgments

To all my Jonathan’s who have supported and encouraged me so lovingly on this journey, Thank you. I love you all!

Foreword

Every weekend, churches across America are filled with wounded people. Among the wounded are women who usually outnumber men in attendance. We may notice their lovely outfit, their big hat, or their beautiful smile, but what we often don’t notice is their wounds. Every week in church, there are wounded women seated in the pews. These women have wounds that tell many different stories. Some wounds tell stories of molestation, rape, and other sexual abuse. Some wounds tell stories of abandonment, rejection, and years of harsh criticism. Some wounds tell stories of emotional, mental, and physical abuse. Just like everyone else, wounded women attend church in hopes of experiencing victory. It’s commonly assumed that they want victory over sin, but what we fail to realize is that they are also looking for victory over their wounds. Wounded women take their seat in the pew, wondering, Will this week be the one where I finally receive healing? Will I hear a sermon that will help me move past the hurt and pain that has made me numb? Does God even care about me and what I am going through?

Every wounded woman needs to know that you can have a relationship with God even though you are wounded. Your wounds do not disqualify you. God does not turn away from you because he sees that you have wounds. This is the message that Desiree shares in the pages of this book. She recognizes that the church sometimes falls short in it’s care and support of wounded women. Yet she wants you to know that God has not fallen short in his love and care for you. She wants every wounded woman to know that your wounds can be healed. Her goal is to come alongside of you and encourage you to courageously yield to the healing process with faith and truth. No more hiding. No more faking joy. She wants to encourage you to let God truly transform the wounds and pain into victory that will bless the world with transparency and grace. What Desiree does so well in this book is help you to realize that your wounds can make you see yourself as an ugly duckling, but you possess inner beauty. Wounds heal when you see God and yourself differently. Your wounds can make you believe that you are not good enough and, therefore, nobody will want you. Wounds heal with the right perspective of God who gives us a true perspective of ourselves. So believe that you are special. You are created in the image of God, and you also have been adopted as a daughter of God through the redemptive work of Jesus. Your wounds can make you feel unloved. You are greatly loved! God demonstrated his love for you by sending his son, Jesus, to heal your wounds. Let his amazing love for you become the reason that you not only feel loved but are able to love yourself as well.

Wounded woman, you can move from wounded to victory. It’s a journey of hope, faith, trust, and belief. Desiree wants to take you there. She uses stories of wounded women to get you there. She provides spiritual insight and practical application to get you there. As you read the pages of this book, you may read stories that are all too familiar. It may feel like Desiree has looked into the window of your life, seen all your private and hidden wounds, and wrote it all down for others to read. That’s because you are not alone, wounded woman. You have plenty of company in office buildings, in churches, in schools, in homes, in various meeting places and social circles. Wounded women are all around you, and the good news is this: there is victory for each one of you. I believe this book is not only important for wounded women but also for the church. It will help the unaware church member to understand that there are wounded women among us in the church. It will help the pastor to remember to address wounded women in sermons from time to time. It will help the church to realize that there is a need for ministry to wounded women. Take the journey, and you will be able to say, Victory is mine!

Marvin L. Hugley

Senior Pastor

Tamarind Ave Seventh-Day Adventist Church

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted… to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound… To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness… that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

—Isaiah 61:1, 3

Introduction

Forty-year-old Belinda Robbins was sitting in church, as she was every week out of sheer habit. Though the pastor was preaching like there was literally no tomorrow, she couldn’t hear a word he was saying. There was just something about his style that offended her. It made her angrier than it should have. She was rejecting everything he said like a petulant teenager. In fact, she had been doing that more and more these days. It wasn’t what he was saying that annoyed her as much as how he was saying it. The new pastor was speaking in a fire and brimstone style that brought back unpleasant memories of her childhood.

Belinda was reminded of her father who preached in the same manner to his congregation, demanding strict adherence to a never-ending list of rules. She vividly remembered the constant threat of hell fire being drilled into her head. It always made her afraid of her father and God too. As she sat in the church service, she was reminded of how her father was always available for the church members and yet absent for her. She resented him for missing award ceremonies, musicales, and a host of other events that had been important to her. As a child, she longed for his attention, but she felt like she always had to compete with the church members. He was a pastor to them, but she needed him to just be Daddy to her. Belinda could remember being criticized constantly and expected to be perfect because she was the pastor’s child and resenting the pressure. Now, her bitterness was blocking her receiving the Word of God, and she knew it, but she continued to attend church for fear of hell fire. Belinda Robbins was emotionally wounded, and she wasn’t alone.

There are Belindas in churches everywhere. Their stories may not be exactly the same but the result is: separation from God and others because of unhealed wounds. Like Belinda, many wounded women may have felt something crucial is missing all their lives. Many have been carrying around toxic, bottled-up resentments and hurt that resurface at most inopportune times. Some women vent; others suppress and deny. Yet if our eyes were able to see the magnitude of the wounding, we would be amazed at the crushed spirits and pain in our churches. If our eyes were opened, we might have more compassion for one another, less harsh judgment, true love, more patience, and a greater ability to serve the needs of visitors.

The truth is, we all have wounds. Wounds create problems for us and others when they are not acknowledged and dealt with. Taking ownership is one of the most courageous and loving things we can do for ourselves and others. When we admit our issues and seek healing, families, churches, and communities reap the benefit.

It is sad but true that sometimes churches don’t have the tools to practically deal with emotionally wounded women. Because of this, the ministry to women, the church at large, and the world lack the power for lasting change that is available for total healing. We simply can’t give to the world what we don’t possess. Dealing with wounded women is, therefore, a most important and crucial need. Women are the nurturers, and if the nurturers are damaged, a vital resource is lacking in the body of believers and in the world. If it is missing, women become butchers instead of healers, agents of chaos instead of conduits of peace, and enemies of the cross instead of ministers of reconciliation. Sadly, without emotional healing, many women hold on to a form of godliness, while denying the power of God, to truly transform their lives.

We’ve all seen them, encountered them, or are them. They are women with prickly emotional thorns who stick others defensively or offensively, or women who can’t get close enough to others because they have been stuck so frequently by emotional porcupines that they are literally raw and fearful of close contact. The result is further wounding, pain, division, superficial relationships, lack of spiritual growth, and pain that is passed down throughout the generations to our daughters, granddaughters, and to the world. Unhealed wounds result in brokenness, cynicism, and injury to others. Unhealed wounds cause irritability, frustration, lack of empathy, and absence of joy. Unhealed wounds weaken our witness to the world. When there are unhealed wounds, women manifest passive and overt aggression toward one another, erect emotional walls preventing true fellowship, and respond in anger to one another instead of displaying the grace of Christ. These behaviors are then passed down to young girls who observe and carry out the behavior. At this writing, we are seeing an increase in lack of compassion and vicious acts of violence and bullying among our young girls, and it is truly heartbreaking. It is important that we heal and demonstrate the love of Christ for His, ours, and their sakes.

What is needed today is a women’s ministry that goes beyond planning the next women’s day. We need ministry to women that binds up and heals. We need to encourage deeper growth and spirituality. We need ministry to women that will address the scars and wounds of our hearts and facilitate the healing process so that we can truly walk as victorious daughters of the King. This type of women’s ministry has the potential of cleaning out the heart’s refrigerator of old, spoiled thoughts, ideas, generational and personal pains, lost hopes and dreams, and leaving the heart clean and filled with the bread of heaven, Jesus.

To every woman that is emotionally wounded, I lovingly acknowledge and applaud you for even having the courage to pick this book up. You want something more, like I did. You are seeking, and you will find. It is my prayer that this book will bless you and you will pass the blessing on. Come join me on this spiritual journey as we share and heal!

Let’s pray: Father, we need you! You knew us from the very beginning, formed us for your glory and desire good things for your girls. We want what you want. We are tired of the pain. Heal us oh Lord, totally for your glory and fill us and release us to be the broken vessels of honor that will be used for the healing of your other wounded daughters. Thank you for being wounded for us that we might be healed totally.

For he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.

A Special Word Just for You

Dear Woman of God,

You are loved and beautiful.