How to Fight Like a Woman!
If I live, I will fight, wherever I must, as long as I must,
Until the enemy is defeated and the national stain washed clean.
Charles de Gaulle, 1954.
Kings, men, boys… But every now and then a woman is born who loves to fight! Stilling the cry to battle in her veins is like trying to reign in a warrior horse! May I venture to say, YOU are that woman! You were not meant to be reined in. You were born for battle! And the action word for the battle is “Cry.”
Over and over again the Psalms talk about crying to the Lord. But wait! Haven’t we been told all our lives to stop crying? “Turn off your waterworks!” or “Stop your ballyhooing or I’ll give your something to cry about!” Today, I free you from these subliminal Gestapo voices! Go ahead. Cry your heart out and don’t stop your ballyhooing! But don’t dare cry for yourself! No, not a drop!
Tears represent the most powerful weapon on earth and this weapon was given to you--a woman! We read about it in Jeremiah 9:17-21, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come… Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run with tears, and our eyelids gush with water… hear the word of the Lord, O women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth; teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbor a lamentation.”
We must learn to use this weapon correctly because we are in a war--a war that rages against normalcy, making mockery of God, and against tyranny and injustice. We battle for our homes and our children. Who said that we were not meant to fight? The words of the ancient prophet cry to us, “Man the Fort! Watch the Road! Strengthen your back! Summon all your strength!” (Nahum 2:1) These words apply to us too. The fort is our home and the road shows us what’s heading our way.
Studies reveal that women cry five to fifty or more times a month, men maybe only once a month, if that. Some men never cry. Animals whimper and moan, but cannot cry! Tears are unique to women and tears move God to battle! We were born to cry, so we were born to fight! The choice is: will we cry like babies or cry like warriors?
How to Cry Like a Warrior 101:
Step 1. Let your face shine while warring!
Warriors cry tears with purpose. Their hearts are set on the knowledge that God Himself sees their tears and acts on their behalf. A defeatist attitude is the opposite of crying warrior. A crying warrior cries with energy, direction and a heart full of expectancy. This changes the climate of her heart to impart hope and yes, even joy. We can be joyful while shedding tears. God weeps and laughs.
Don’t pollute the atmosphere with moping, bad moods, defeat and depression—that is the enemy’s territory. God’s territory is tears with a mission to accomplish the impossible.
Step 2. Feel God’s heartbeat!
It’s an absolute crime to waste our tears on nothing! It’s wasting ammunition! Our tears need to hit the mark–a bulls-eye every time! Tears become the overflow valve of what we feel. It is imperative for us to feel the heartbeat of God or our tears will be usurped by self-pity, the devil’s ultimate goal for our gift.
Step 3. Redeem your tears!
Jeremiah 9.20 tells us to “Teach your daughters to wail, teach them to mourn!” I beg your pardon? I thought we wanted them to laugh! Yes, we should live a life of laughter, but as Golda Meir (fourth Prime Minister of Israel) points out, “Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.” Why? God knows a woman will cry. He created her to do so more than any other creature. He knows we must be taught what to cry for and how to cry otherwise we will cry over stupid little things than have no value, or worse, are destructive.
We must pass on the legacy to our children that when something goes wrong it is not a time to weep for ourselves, but a time to weep for what God wants. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Golda Meir must have known her Bible. Will we teach our daughters?
I remember hearing the story that came from Watchman Nee about a woman who noticed another lady crying profusely. She went up to her and instead of the usual, "What’s the matter, dear?" she asked her, "Who are you crying for?" Was she crying for herself or were her tears for another? Often we use our tears on ourselves so that we have nothing left to pour out in intercession for others.
Step 4. Turn your weapon around!
We cannot afford to waste one teardrop crying with self-pity! It’s like having a powerful weapon with the barrel pointed our way. It ends up exploding in our own face. It can turn a beautiful woman’s face to ugliness in seconds! It is alluring to cry for yourself, but before you know it, snap, the enemy has your mind. And there goes your life and motherhood, as well as your face! The quote is true, “The greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed!” Don’t even go there. A warrior wears her tears like jewelry; the other tears are like acid on your face.
Step 5. Let God choose your battles!
You may be tempted to use tears every time your heart breaks or someone tells you their problem. A true warrior must confront the battles that are specifically given to them. Rushing to every battle shows bad strategy and weakens the warrior. Do not take everyone’s battles—let God chose them.
Step 6. Don’t waste your tears!
There are times when you naturally cry more. Who knows what happens to our brains when we get pregnant! We laugh more and cry more and half the time we don’t even know why. But don’t waste these times when you feel more emotional and compassionate. Use them to feel the hurt of others and intercede for them.
Elite warriors of the world spend incredible amounts of time using their weapons under extremely uncomfortable circumstances. Despite any situation they face, they become a deadly threat to the enemy! Fellow warriors, if they can learn to defeat self-pity over circumstances while using human weapons for the sake of a country, then surely we can get over ourselves to war for the heart of God. Inform yourself, pray and find out where injustice is being practiced—then cry out with intercession. Ready, set, fire--tears with a mission!
Who would have thought that we were created to be the SEAL Snipers for God! When our tears mix with God’s, teardrops of bombs explode on whatever is unjust! The puritan men prayed for this gift but God gave it to us. We must wake up and wail. The Chinese say that “When sleeping women wake, mountains move.”
Mountains need moving in our generation.
Human Trafficking: Approximately 8-900,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders every year.
Slavery: There are roughly 27 million slaves today, more than all 400 years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The International Labor Office estimates slaves generate 32 billion dollars annually. Slavery now rivals drugs and illegal arms for the top illegal activity on this planet.
Abortion: This not only propels the above trades but kills an innocent life every 24 seconds.
Corrupt Governments: We don’t need to look in the distant past to see dictators oppressing people in Burma, parts of Africa and the Middle East.
We as women can move these mountains! I beg your pardon? What can I do without becoming a Criminal Justice lawyer or without leaping out of the home away from my own children to help the orphans? Without going to Thailand to set up a Rescue Shop? You can do the best thing ever! Cry in intercession. Psalm 34:17 says, “The righteous cry and the Lord hears.” My own great-grandmother (who was blind in her latter years) cried day and night for the coming generations of our family. Hundreds of thousands of people have come to know God because she simply took up her weapon. Hannah cried and the world got Samuel. Mary cried and Jesus’ feet were anointed. Esther cried and God’s people got justice.
We can tip the bowls of Heaven. When interceding tears meet with God’s, they have the power to alter society and generations to come, to change governments and deliver people and nations caught in unbelievable situations. This is justice and this is how women fight!
Your friend always – Vangi
P.S. A lifetime of crying does not dry out this gland!
EVANGELINE JOHNSON
Primm Springs, Tennessee, USA
Howard and Evangeline are the blessed parents of 10 children.