Reforming the Feminine ContentSomebody Stop this Hormone Ride; I’d Like to Get Off
What women’s blog would be complete without a post on PMS, right?! Since I have PMS right now, I’ll probably say some things that will embarrass me in two weeks when I come back to read this. But this particular round of PMS has caused me to think about some issues concerning our theology, our physiology, and the interconnectedness of the two. Does what I believe about God impact me when my hormones are out of whack? I submit to you that if theology is irrelevant here, we are hopeless creatures indeed.
Here’s some background. I had my two boys pretty close together, so I haven’t had to battle PMS much in the last three years. But now it’s back — bah humbug! Though I have battled my fair share of sleep deprivation and hormonally-induced emotional turmoil over the last three years, I had forgotten the intensity of PMS. I hate the world. My life is horrible. Everything is falling apart. But if you ask me exactly what is wrong, the best I can come up with is that my boys fought sitting side-by-side in my double stroller last time we walked. That means I can’t exercise outside with them. That means I will never lose my baby weight. I might as well Craigslist my stroller right away. My world as I know it is coming to an end.
The funny thing is that today we went on a walk, and they mostly did fine. Crisis over. But I’m still in a bad mood. And when I try to think why, all my answers today are as flimsy as the stroller one yesterday. I had the same types of problems three weeks ago and they didn’t cause me to want to move to Idaho. Nothing profoundly negative has developed in my life over the last two days. So why now does life seem bleak? In a word — hormones. Nothing changed in my circumstances. Instead, something changed in my physiology, and it has robbed me of my joy in the Lord.
How do I get it back? Is it hopeless to expect better until my hormones finish their run of emotional destruction? I’ve faced a similar battle as a Type 1 diabetic. Diabetics get what is known as hypoglycemic rage-irrational anger triggered by low blood sugars. Early in my marriage, I had my biggest fights with my husband on our way to lunch when we worked together. Then, after I ate and my blood sugar stabilized, my anger subsided and I couldn’t even remember what we fought about. He, however, could! Once, as I excused my anger toward him because of my very real insulin-dependent diabetes, he told me boldly, “Wendy, I know you can’t help feeling that way, but you don’t have to let it control you!” That one comment altered my life. It started me down a road theologically. Was I really at the mercy of my diabetes without any hope of overcoming my anger? Did I have a choice to be controlled by my anger?
First, I found in Scripture that, in Christ, I am no longer a slave to sin (Romans 6). Before I became a believer, I had no tools for dealing with my sin. I was a slave to sin. But Jesus has broken the chains that enslaved me and now I no longer have to obey sin like it’s my master. But in my life, I’ve found that I often sit around with my chains still around my neck weighing me down, ignoring the fact that they are unlocked. What does unwrapping these chains look like? I can only tell you how it has looked in my life, but I hope it’s an encouragement for you.
Driving home recently after running some errands, I found myself traveling a mental path that led me deeper and deeper into depression. I just wanted to cry. Where was the joy? An alarm went off in my head-nothing significant had changed in my circumstances over the last few hours. Why was I responding this way? Try as I might to pin my emotions on some flimsy circumstantial excuse, I realized this was coming from a physical place. I clung to that idea with my last remaining rational ability and grabbed a granola bar to eat. Sure enough, in twenty minutes, my irrational excuses for my depression were no longer needed.
Here is the difference for me as a believer in Christ. Because I know Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in me, I can now recognize when my thoughts start to travel down a depressed or angry path. “That’s not Christ.” Because I know Christ and have the Holy Spirit residing in me, I am equipped to recognize mental paths that are not consistent with Him. For me, it’s this moment of recognition that is 90% of the battle! “I know Christ, and this isn’t consistent with Him.” That alone is the signal that starts me down the new and better path I’ve learned in Christ. That path directs me to take my thoughts captive and make them submit to the truth I know about Jesus (2 Cor. 10:5). When I have PMS or low blood sugar, it’s definitely a harder battle to reign in my thoughts. But I have learned that with God, it is definitely possible!!!! When my hormones are in good order, I still battle thoughts that I have to lasso in and wrestle to the ground in submission to the truth of Christ, much like a rodeo cowboy wrestles baby calves. When my hormones are out of order, I feel instead like I’m wrestling a mighty bull. But the Spirit equips me with the incomparable power of Christ (Ephesians 1:19-20) so that I can wrestle even that big bully to the ground and make him submit to the truth! And that hope in the midst of physiological issues is of monumental importance for us as women.
What a great blog!! I love the theme of we are not victims to our “feelings”. I think the greatest misinformation given to us by the feminine movement has been a justification to act out from our weakest place, our feelings.As women,we are given the right by our society to behave in very negative, demeaning,and very ungodly ways because if we “feel” it, it must be real. Our men and our children are the ones who pay the price for this selfish thought path. We are no longer slaves to these painful, icky ways. 1 John 4:4…”greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” God gives us or rather acts through us to overcome these desrutive paths. It is so hard, but awsome to have victory over them.
Fight hard girls!!! We can do all things through Christ who give us strength!
“I might as well Craigslist my stroller right away.” hahaha Wendy, you made me laugh. Thank you… it’s true, the moods get so ridiculously out-of-whack and far from reality…
Thanks for this post, Wendy! What a great reminder that all things in our life are indeed inextricably linked to our walk with Christ.
Wonderful insight! Thank you so much for sharing. I can certainly relate to PMS infiltrating and distorting my thougths, feelings and actions. Whereas I used to question my sanity and fall victim to physical and emotional turmoil from PMS, I now PRAY PRAY and PRAY some more.
“I am equipped to recognize mental paths that are not consistent with Him. For me, it’s this moment of recognition that is 90% of the battle!”
Well put Wendy!
What speaks to me during this time is Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all of you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Yep. PMS darkens us with burdens and weariness. All we have to do it turn it over to Christ and he will lead us back into the light and cover us with grace. Awesome!
This comes at a time where I am stabalizing from a medical condition that affects my hormones. God’s timing is good as I have REALLY been struggling with this as of late. I went 21 year with out being diagnosed and have been stable on my medication for about 4 months, now. One thing that I was reminded of is that Jesus created us with these emotions, after all, He wept, and Pastor Mark’s sermon about righteous anger and unrighteous anger has helped me to stear my emotions in the right direction. It has been challenging because out of no where every little thing will set me off, I experience this more frequently, and have to learn not to let them control me. On the flip side it is nice to feel emotions, to feel when something’s bothering me, or to actually feel what it’s like to love, to hurt…to learn to love as Christ loves, and how the things that hurt me or others hurt Christ.
Oh, man. Good stuff, Wendy. I have battled crazy PMS and hypoglycemia (low blood-sugar) and your article rings true in many ways. Hooray for granola bars in the car….and HOORAY for God’s sovereignty over our hearts. The Holy Spirit’s “alarm system” has caught me many times when I am starting down the wrong path. Thanks for your honesty.
My PMS is horrible. The two weeks between may as well only be a couple days. I tell people my mood only swings one way and that is I usually desire to physically hurt people. That really isn’t an attribute of Christ. I’ve really started praying as I endure the extreme physical pain of PMS and my killer moods that He would change my attitude. I really don’t like being that way and working in an office of non-believers it isn’t a reflection I want to have.