Episode Summary:
We all struggle with pain from our past. Places where brokenness continues to cut deep into the fabric of our soul. If you have ever felt stuck, and really, no matter where you are on the path to wholeness, our discussion today will comfort, equip, and challenge you to keep pressing forward, past brokenness to healing.
My guest, Jennifer Watson, author of Freedom! The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It, shares her story as a pastor’s wife and women’s ministry leader who has battled depression, anxiety, brokenness, and insecurities.
In this article, Jennifer shares more about her gutsy pursuit of freedom as well as 3 truths that will anchor us in difficult times: Finding Freedom from the God of Breakthrough. She’ll also give away 2 copies of her book on Freedom.
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Quotables from the Episode:
- You can’t ask someone for direction when they’ve never been where you are going.
- Sometimes we need to seek the input of counselors, or mentors, or those who are more spiritually mature to help us heal and move forward with our lives.
- Freedom is a holy confidence to be able to walk in who God created you to be. There is a holy confidence in how God wants to use us.
- There is a military definition of breakthrough that says it’s the advancement beyond enemy territory. Can’t you just imagine stomping through enemy territory, and not just going up to it, but going beyond it to take back what has been stolen.
- People have a natural tendency to retreat from pain. But truly, you have to feel it to heal it. You can try to stuff the pain down and ignore it, but if you do, it will come back at an inopportune, unexpected time later.
- The enemy wants us to remain stuck in our brokenness. He wants us to be fixated on our problems instead of the promises of God.
- We have to be intentional about not going into hiding anymore, and facing our issues head on, no matter how painful, no matter how long it takes.
- We have to remember that God is so much bigger than our situations.
- No matter what battle we are facing, we are not facing it alone. God repeatedly says in His word that He will never leave us, and in fact, in Exodus 14:14, it says He will fight for us, if we will just be still.
- Where do your thoughts go? A couple indications that we’ve become stuck in a broken place and haven’t moved forward is when we find our conversation always returning to the event, or the person, or the offense, or when we start rehearsing conversations in our mind that we wish we’d had with the person who hurt us.
- When we focus on problems instead of promises of God, we get stuck.
- We all need to have those trustworthy people in our life who will not coddle us, but speak truth into our lives when what they see in our lives is not lining up with God’s truth. But they have to be a safe, selected few. Not everyone can fill that role.
- God wired us to have a deep need for connection, so we need others in our lives. So we want to know others and we want to be known. The only way we can do that is by being vulnerable and sharing the broken parts of our stories; the part of our stories that aren’t quite healed yet.
- Women have a strong tendency to compare themselves to others, including comparing how bad their situation is to another’s.
- Sometimes we don’t need others to have the right words to say or to be able to fix our situation, we just need others to be present in our pain. But we are so uncomfortable with silence and pain, that we say things to cover up our discomfort. That’s exactly what happened with Job. His friends came and sat with him in silence for a week, to grieve with him. And they didn’t get in trouble until they started to speak.
- We can’t look to other people and expect them to be able to heal our hurts or fix our brokenness. Only God can do that.
- Something that can help us when we are in the middle of the mess, is reminding ourselves that whatever we are going through is temporary—it won’t last forever.
- It’s also powerful to focus on the Problem Solver rather than the problem itself.
- Another way to move beyond our brokenness is to take a “negativity fast” where we don’t allow ourselves to talk about the negative things or complain about things in our lives.
- Interrupting negativity with praise, and positivity and all of the good things that God has done for us, is a game changer.
- What we need to remember is that even when we don’t see it, God is working out all things for our good. We can bank on His promises so that our problems don’t get to steal the spotlight.
Scripture References:
- John 14:27 ISV “I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.”
- John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; but I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.”
- Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Recommended Resources: (If there are affiliate links in this post, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you)).
- Freedom! The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It By Jennifer Watson
- The Beginning of Freedom
- Walking in Freedom
- Do Your Part! Let God Do the Work
- What Ails You? When You Need God’s Healing
- 10 Verses to Give You Hope When You Need Healing
- 10 Scriptures When You Need Healing
- The Pain in Change
- “Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises” by Dr. Michelle Bengtson
- “Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression” by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
- “Hope Prevails Bible Study” by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
Social Media Links for Host and Guest:
To connect with Jennifer Watson:
Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter
For more hope, stay connected with Dr. Bengtson at:
Order Book Hope Prevails / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson) / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube
Guest: Jennifer Watson, Author
Jennifer Watson is the author of Freedom! The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It. Jennifer is a pastor’s wife, mother of two teenage daughters, and national speaker. Jennifer has been in full-time ministry for twenty years and is passionate about investing in others.
Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson
Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson
What an amazing time listening to you and Jennifer share about being broken and how you experienced the healing needed. I know that I was also broken and full of fear for so many years and the Lord began to heal me a little at a time. I stayed stuck in the fear for a while but then through some amazing encounters with the Lord and Him directing me through a couple of Bible studies that addressed the issues I had from my childhood, I began to move forward and start healing in my heart, mind and life. I studied so much scripture, memorized scripture and learned who I was in Christ. I loved what you and Jennifer shared from your personal experiences and could relate to so much of it. Thank you both for your sensitivity and transparency. I hope to listen more times so I can truly grasp all that you shared.
Jennifer & Michelle,
Thank you for sharing with truth and transparency. So true that you need to “feel it in order to heal it”. I know it is such a natural tendency to retreat from pain. I know I forget that God will walk with me THROUGH the pain. He is willing to fight my battles for me, if only I will be still. I’m going through another tough time of physical illness and struggle. One pain can tend to dredge up other pain. Praise that God can use whatever the world intended for harm and use it for good and to bring Him glory. Thank you for sharing!
Blessings,
Bev xx
Jennifer, thank you for posting your story. Michelle, thanks for allowing her to share on your blog. This is going to be a help to so many that also struggle.
Pinned & tweeted.
Thanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!