Have you read the Old Testament narration of Deborah’s life? Deborah was the leader of an army of men laying siege on Canaan; but how did she arrive in that position in the male dominated Ancient Near East? Deborah was a prophet and judge and as she sat under a tree in Ephraim, the Israelites would go to her to be judged for their wrong doing. The Lord told her to command Barak to assemble an army in order to take down the leader of the Canaan army, Sisera. She created a plan where she would draw him out and he would be exposed to the Israel army. Barak, replied, “Only if you go with me.” Deborah agreed and her plan was launched. Sisera escaped in all of the chaos and fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. When Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael drove a tent peg into his temple. Both Deborah and Jael showed great courage. Deborah launched a plan to restore the strength of Israel, when her plan was met with rejection from Barak, she adjusted her plan and joined him in forming the army and completing her ultimate plan. When Sisera escaped, God used another woman who completed the grotesque deed of killing Israelite’s enemy.

In addition to our Twelve Step groups working through betrayal trauma, we have short term small groups working through Facing Heartbreak, by Stephanie Carnes, Mari Lee and Anthony Rodriguez. We call these groups Brave Warriors, describing the hard work you are doing to heal yourself and move toward restoring your marriage. Be brave like Deborah. The bravest thing you can do to fight for your heart is to contact us if this might be something you would be interested in.

By Karen Crawford