Many women walk into our churches today with emotional wounds from their pasts. They come to church under what I like to call the “witness protection program” hiding under a mask of pain, shame and regret. They put on their stylish clothes and pretty makeup, yet hiding beneath is a woman who is emotionally bleeding from pain. She covers her scars well, because after all, if she were to unveil the hurt at church she might be shamed. I know all about this woman because I have walked in her shoes. Although I no longer walk in them, I see plenty of women who do and it grieves my heart. If they only knew there is a road to freedom! My passion is for women who walk in shame to be set free. I believe we are coming to a place where it's time for us to stop coming to church under the witness protection program. It’s time for those of us who have found healing, to rise up and show our scars so the church can act as a place of recovery for God’s wounded people; a hospital for sinners. Showing our healed scars gives proof we can be delivered from the vilest of addictions. How can the body reach out and heal when it can’t or won’t see any wounds that need healing? There are unhealed wounds in our lives that cause us to live in bondage instead of the freedom Jesus came to give.

Allow God to show you wounds that may need to be healed. Write a prayer asking God to reveal those wounds to you and allow the healing process to begin.
 
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Whether these wounds were caused by others or self inflicted, God wants to set us free from them. I was recently reading about the woman in the bible who was bleeding for 12 years that got healed when she touched Jesus’ cloak (see Mark 5:25-34). I was thinking about that woman and the Lord revealed something to me that I want to share with you. As I pictured this scene, it was as if I heard the Lord say to my heart, “this is what is happening to my daughters in the church. They may not be physically bleeding, but they are emotionally. Some have been bleeding for twelve years just like this woman. They need to reach out and touch Jesus.” As I pondered those words, I pictured us, the women in the body of Christ, reaching out to touch His cloak for healing. This woman touched his cloak once, and she was immediately healed. I believe that is what some of us need to do.

If you are hurting today, perhaps bleeding from a wounded heart, would you consider reaching out far enough to touch His cloak? I know you can’t physically touch it, but symbolically you can reach out for it. If needed, would you consider stopping right here and journaling a prayer asking for His much needed touch on your wounds? Take a moment to do so and when you finish writing close your eyes and lift your hands to heaven and receive His healing touch.

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We all suffer from different kinds of hurts in our lives. Maybe the wounds were caused from abuse suffered as a child. Maybe there was an emotionally or physically absent father or mother that wounded you. Perhaps you were mistreated or taken advantage of by an old boyfriend. On the other hand, maybe you have willfully lived a sin-filled life that brought about pain and bondage. Untreated wounds are like poison to our souls. In the area where our sexuality is concerned, these wounds need to be dealt with and healed so you are not vulnerable to sexual comprise. Those of you, who have a desperate need for male attention, have usually come from a situation where there was lack of a positive male role model at home. Perhaps when you were a little girl you did not get the attention and nurturing you needed from your father. Therefore, it became easy to compromise your sexuality as a teenager or as a young adult to find male acceptance and love. The Lord wants to fill that void in your life through a relationship with Christ.

I suffered deep-rooted wounds of rejection and abandonment throughout my young life. I never tended to those wounds with the love of Christ. Little did I know, these untreated wounds left me open and vulnerable to emotional and sexual temptations. I was so desperate for love and acceptance from a male that I would go to great lengths to get it. When I was in a relationship with a male and sensed rejection coming towards me, I would run. My natural response was to reject him before he could reject me. I would begin running from him and chase after the next temporary fix. My radar would go up looking for someone to show me the least amount of attention. Unfortunately, fleeing from one man into the arms of the next would only heap shame upon shame in my life. What my soul was really crying out for was the unfailing love of God.

Proverbs 19:22 says, “What a man desires is unfailing love”. How would you interpret that scripture?

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What does unfailing love look like to you?

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I believe this strong, intense desire for unfailing love was built into you by your Creator. He created you with that deep need for love within so we would seek and find that in Him. That desire becomes misdirected when we are not aware of truth. Anything we use to fill that God-given desire will only provide temporary relief. For me, I went seeking this unfailing love from the opposite sex, time and time again.

No matter how much you desire for a man in your life to offer unfailing love, it’s not possible. It’s sad to think how much pressure I have placed on my husband in the past to fill that need when it was not his job.

I believe that many of our wounds left over from childhood are crying out to be soothed. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in trying to soothe our pain we will use whatever we can to stop it, not thinking about the ramifications.

Have you ever tried to medicate your pain through an ungodly relationship? What were the ramifications?
 
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I have found that many women use men to numb their pain or to fill a void. I believe so many young girls and women today use sex to receive love. They are so desperate for love they are willing to compromise not only their sexualities, but marriages to find fulfillment through another man.

Please read Isaiah 1:6. "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.”

Why are the people in this scripture not experiencing any soundness?

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They are not experiencing soundness because they have open wounds that have not been cleansed and treated with God’s love. This is true for some of us as well. We are not applying the correct medication to our wounds. Using another man to heal a deep wound is not the answer. Perhaps you use drugs or alcohol to soothe the pain.

Remember earlier that I said Satan is always trying to offer the counterfeit of what God has for you. If God offers His soothing ointment, Satan comes along trying to offer you something that looks like it will “fix” or soothe the wound. God is the Ultimate Physician. He desires to doctor our wounds. I have a dear friend who once experienced foot pain. She would wake up in the morning and take one step on the ground and feel pain. God laid this scripture on her heart and showed her that was a physical sign of an emotional wound that needed His healing touch.

Would you take a moment to journal to the Great Physician and ask him to tend to any wounds the Holy Spirit is bringing to mind?
 
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For some of us that means we are going to need his guidance in cleansing the very things that may be poisoning us such as anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness towards someone who hurt us. It’s going to mean giving these things to Him and allowing him to cleanse us from them and then fill the wound with His healing touch.

I have found that unforgiveness usually surrounds many of our past wounds. Whether it’s unforgiveness towards ourselves others, it can poison our souls. The enemy can keep us bound to the source of our pain through unforgiveness. Forgiveness is a choice. Some think that if they forgive an abuser for instance, that it is saying what they did was okay. Nothing could be further from the truth. Forgiveness is for you, not for the other person. I once heard that if you have unforgiveness towards someone, it’s like taking a rope and tying ourselves to them. In that case, they go wherever you go! The only way to be free from them is by forgiving them. It cuts the rope that binds you to them.

I believe the process for this is:

• Acknowledge your wounds to God and confess any unforgiveness.

• Recognize that any wounds you are hanging onto are holding you back from the freedom He came to give you

• Choose to forgive yourself and others.

• Choose to walk in forgiveness (sometimes this will be daily!)

• Pray for those who have hurt you. Bless them as well. This will drive Satan nuts!

• Ask God to set you free from the pain of your past.

There is a way to fill the emptiness inside. There is a way to be set free from past emotional pain. It’s through a personal relationship with Christ. If you have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior I encourage you to seek counsel from your local church pastor.