“God has assured us, ‘I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you.’” Hebrews 13:5 The Message Bible

Abandonment. Betrayal. Desertion.heart of art

These are scary terms but also realities for many women. Abandonment can come in many different forms – a husband betrays his wedding vows and walks away from the marriage, a child abandons the beliefs and values he was raised with, a consultant comes into the workplace and decides that certain employees no longer represent the company.

We sometimes feel betrayed by our own bodies when we try to take care of ourselves but the ravages of old age and the chemicals in our environment work against us. We’re sick and we’re tired of staying sick.

We feel betrayed by the system that is supposed to protect women, yet domestic violence continues to display its horrific results on the nightly news.

Sometimes we are deserted by a friend who leaves us for a good reason – a move across country for a better job or for a not so good reason – a miscommunication that resulted in hurt feelings and the breaking of the relationship.

What do we do when we feel abandoned, betrayed, deserted?

We need to take care of ourselves and then get some help. It’s important to grieve what has happened to us, maybe learn some new things from the experience and then move forward in life to try again – to make new friends, to try a new relationship or to move ourselves out of a toxic environment.

Talking to a therapist might be a good step. Joining a grief group at GateWay of Hope would place us in the company of others who understand. Spending some time in solace to journal and think through our emotions. Reaching out to someone who has also been abandoned and come through on the other side.

One thing we can depend on: God will never desert us. He will never abandon his daughters and he will never betray our trust. He knows how much betrayal hurts. It isn’t in his character to do that to us.

When we’re feeling alone and the pain of abandonment seems more real than ever before, we can lift up our souls to the only One who can be trusted forever with our hearts.

If you want to talk about this, call us at 913.393.GATE (4283). We care about hurting women.

©2014 GateWay of Hope – The Helping Place for Hurting Women