Pain.  Afflictions.  Betrayal.  Disease.  Disaster.  The wringing of our hands.  Our anxious thoughts.  A lost way.

Can you relate to any of this?  I know I can.  In fact, I feel like I’m constantly wearing these heartaches.  And this got me to thinking about them and all of the pain and suffering that we endure.  So I talked with my Savior about all of this and He mapped them out for me. And they are neatly packaged for you, too!  They all start with ‘W’.

5 Heartaches a Woman Experiences

1.  Wounded.

We’ve been wounded.  Someone has betrayed us.  Disappointed us.  Wronged us.  Rejected us.  Violated us.  Abandoned us.

2.  Weary.  

We’ve grown weary.  Trials can exhaust us.  We grow weak in our journey and our faith becomes a mere flicker rather than a strong flame.

3.  Wondered.

We’ve wondered, “How do we walk The Narrow Path?  How do we overcome some of our past choices and some of our pain?  How do we move through our issues and insecurities?  Or, we’ve wondered where is our Savior is in the midst of all our anguish and sorrows?”

4.  Wandered.

We’ve wandered from The Narrow Path.  Sometimes when we’ve been wounded, or grown weary and weak in our faith, or we’ve wondered what’s going on, it’s common for us to want to wander into a different pasture thinking the grass is greener somewhere else.  Thus we wander from our Shepherd.  When we go outside of the will of God, then you can expect heartache to follow.

5.  Warfare.

We’ve experienced spiritual warfare.  The enemy seeks to beat down the Christian.  He wants us to walk away from our God.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Eph. 6:12

These 5 W’s generally lead to us being fearful, which then cause us to worry.  Bottom line:  when God is doing a work in our lives, we have a tendency to not trust Him.  Because His work- the way He transforms us, is through the removal of self, namely, our flesh.  And this pain could make us feel like life is unbearable.

A woman could experience any one of these ‘W’s.  She could experience 2 or more at the same time, or even all 5.  I’ve experienced living through all 5 of them at the same time and I certainly wasn’t a happy camper, either.  But did God reach out and minister to me?  Yep.  And He got me through it, too.  And now I’m wanting to pass along to you what He showed me.

When the Lord revealed to me these remedies all starting with ‘W’, I thought,”That’s awesome!  It was so helpful for me to remember.

5 Remedies for a Woman’s Heartache

1.  Word of God

Reading the Bible brings us Truth.  It guides us, comforts us, gives us wisdom, and helps us to put our emotions back in check when they’re all over the place like some roller coaster.  The Word is our discerner and helps us to know when something isn’t right or when someone is speaking lies into our life.

2.  Worship

Giving praise and adoration to our Lord will always put your life back into the right perspective.  Since Christ is the Lord of our lives, then we worship Him and not ourselves, right?

3.  With the Body of Christ

Fellowship with other Believers is imperative.  God uses the Body of Christ as His hands and feet to minister to His children.  Don’t isolate yourself when you’re living through the ‘W’s.  If anything, reach out and let others know you’re in need.

4.  Witness

When we move outside of our kingdom, (our world), and seek to build God’s kingdom, our eyes are not on self, the problem, the circumstance, the trial, or the pain.  Be a witness of the Gospel.  Make the world scratch their heads wondering how on earth you can serve others while you’re living through difficult circumstances.

5.  Wait on the Lord

Faith:  it’s where the rubber meets the road, Baby!  I think every Christian would say that want to grow in their faith- until they learn what the cost is!  Growing in our faith is not easy because it requires us to trust God and not our self.  But once we learn to hand our lives over to the Lord and completely surrender our ways to Him, then our faith blossoms.

Be still, and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

So now that you can identify your heartaches, as well as learn their remedies, I’ve got another ‘W’ word for you. Warrior.

The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!  Exodus 15:3

Lean into your Warrior and let Him defend you, shield you, protect you, guide you, and fight your battles.

Remember, this world is not our home.

Now it’s your turn.  Are you living through a heartache?  Which one?  What remedy stands out to you the most?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Live a poured out life for Christ,

Jolene Engle

 

Need some encouragement and guidance in your marriage?  Grab my latest book, Wives of the Bible:  25 Easy Lessons You Can Learn from these Imperfect Women that Will Radically Transform Your Marriage.