I am a foster parent and that means that I have children in my home who have gone through at least one traumatic event in their life. It is my role as a Christian parent to show the love of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to share the good news of Christ Jesus and show the children that even when bad things happen, we can find peace and healing in God’s love.
Traumatic experiences will change us. We can live in peace knowing that even in the worst circumstances the steadfast love of the Lord will never cease. He will be with us at all times. God’s word will heal us, even in the worst circumstances we can find peace in God. There are times in my life when it seemed impossible to find peace.
After a traumatic event, we can feel as if there is no hope in this world. It is O.K. to feel sad and have a broken heart. This is especially true when you lose a family member. But in the middle of the brokenness of this world, we know that the prayer of a righteous person will accomplish much.
Here are some Bible verses to share with trauma survivors to remind them of the great power of the Holy Spirit to give us peace.
Lamentations 3:1-24 Peace for the person who witnesses evil
“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me, he turns his hand, again and again, the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation.”
The person who witnesses trauma can face the results of depression the same way a person who personally experienced it did. This is why first responders often deal with PTSD. Trauma healing is offered to those who experience personal attacks. But the psychological hurt of the police officers and firefighters is also very difficult.
You can deal with trauma even if you do not face attacks on your physical body. These men and women often deal with symptoms of PTSD but are afraid to talk about it because they don’t want to appear weak. There are many different forms of PTSD and if your church has first responders in your congregation then you need to make sure that you are reaching out to them.
Support groups are helpful, but we have to also show them that with God’s help, they can find peace. Some people think Christians should not experience post-traumatic stress disorder. But we can see even in one of the first books of the Bible that it is part of life to deal with emotional pain when you see evil.
This verse is the perfect verse to explain this. Traumatized Christians don’t need to feel guilty for feeling pain. They need to know that God loves them and there is a way out of the pain.
1 Peter 5:7 Give your anxious thoughts to God.
“Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.”
In our broken world, we can forget that God is the father of mercies. He wants us to give our pain to him. The Spirit of the Lord God will be with us and will show us the path back to peace. The love of God will heal us, we have to remember God’s promises to us.
The child of God knows where to turn in times of trouble. When we turn to God in hard times that will be the healing process that we need. Jesus is our living hope, and in him, we will find physical and spiritual healing.
Isaiah 41:10 God will give you strength.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
The righteousness of God is the one thing we can put or trust in. When everything around us is falling apart we can put our faith in God. He is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever. It is important to remember the beautiful things of God that can be found in his word, and in just sitting in his presence. When I went through a very difficult traumatic experience there were many days when I faced panic attacks.
I would not be able to breathe and eventually would throw up. This went on for months. But what I found is when I spent time in the secret place of the most high those moments of panic attacks started to come less and less. From a few a day, to just once a day, and then a whole day without an attack.
Then a week without an attack. Then slowly they went away. But the recovery process after living through terrible things is different for everyone. What we can know is that as go through various trials we can find hope not in our own strength, but in the strength, God has for us.
Psalm 107:13-16 God will free you from your prison.
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.”
This is a verse to remind us that God is there for the ones in prison. Around the world, there are many Christians in prison for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. The power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one that will free slaves and captives.
In the Bible, we read stories of Jesus opening the prison cells and setting captives free. However, there are also prisons that we put ourselves into. Many live in fear because of sexual abuse they faced as children or natural disasters they survived.
The spirit of fear is a prison and God doesn’t want us to live in that prison. He wants us to be free. Ask yourself what prison you are living in. The great mercy of the faithful God will free you from the fear you are living in. You can be free.
Psalm 91:4-6 God will protect you from the darkness of night.
“He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.”
In this psalm of David, we see that God will protect us day and night. He is thy shield and strength in our times of trouble. There are many times when I have turned to God. As a child, my parents taught me to look to God for courage when I was afraid.
When the darkness of night covered my bedroom, and I was afraid I would pray for strength. When my friends were angry and fighting with me, I would pray for strength.
I learned as a child where my courage was. So as an adult when I had to walk through an extremely traumatic event I did not have to even think about where to go for help. It was an automatic thing for me to do. God offers us his peace even in the worst situation.
Psalm 34:4 God will free you from your fears.
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
The church needs to be a place to go for peace. When you are afraid God wants to deliver you from those fears. The church can offer trauma therapy or trauma-informed care. I think it is important for the church to offer this. Some people think that if you have fears then you are not a good Christian.
I have had people say this to me. But this is not true. There are traumatized Christians, and they need help in finding healing.
King David is a good example of someone who found inner peace in a time of war. In tough times we can know that we can go to God. But the person who has gone through trauma needs a very special kind of help. Trauma care is essential to a healthy church. We have to care for everyone.
Isaiah 40:31 God will give you strength to fly.
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
This was a verse that we had on a plaque hanging on our wall as a child. I knew that the Lord of Hosts loved me and wanted me to have strong faith. God wants us to let our light shine so that others can see the goodness of God. Even if we are not relieved from the sufferings of this present time, we can still have peace.
But God wants to give us more than peace, he wants us to be strong. He wants us to run, to fly. If you have been through a traumatic event, you have a choice to make. You can spend your life as a victim, or you can live your life as a warrior, with the strength to run and fly.