PEACE OF MIND – 6 – Trauma

Welcome everyone to Redemption Church! We are enjoying God’s faithfulness in Plano Tx.
Thank you for joining us today in person and online. We are thankful for you.

Peace of Mind

We are in the 6th week of our series on mental health called Peace of Mind.

We have been talking about mental health issues. The subject of your mental health is important to God.

Next week we are talking about BURNOUT. This is a needed topic and I want to make sure you are here or are able to tune into the livestream next Sunday so that we can Beat Burnout and live lives that are full of passion, power, and peace.

Today we are talking about Trauma.

Trauma

I believe this will be the hardest week of this series. I know that many of you have endured severe abuse/trials/pain/heartbreak.

I think we should pray together.

 

What is trauma? Many think trauma is the event. They think that the painful thing that happened is the trauma.

Trauma is not the event, but the RESPONSE.

 

Trauma is a response to a deeply disturbing or distressing event.

 

Trauma can be physical. It can also be Emotional – Spiritual – Mental.

Physical wounds that can be seen are often easier to understand, than the hidden wounds you can’t see.
The wounds you can’t see can hurt as much as the ones you can see. Sometimes the hidden wounds take longer to heal.

 

Many of you hurt have been deeply wounded by a horrible experience, and perhaps you have tried to open up to a Church, a Small Group, a Support Group, or just a Christian friend.

…And in the middle of your unburdening and sharing of something so personal & painful someone joyously and vigorously quotes Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This verse is true.
However, in the moment, given all this person has encountered, this verse may not be the help they need.

Trauma Responses  
Shock. Confusion. Denial. Anger. Sadness. Anxious. Numb. Guilt. Flashbacks. Nightmares. Avoidance.

Just because you can quote a verse, does not mean that you have the right verse.
I want to be careful when I say this… Sometimes there is NOT A RIGHT VERSE to quote. I DO BELIEVE that God’s Word has the answers we need… but what I am saying is this…

Sometimes the appropriate help is to just listen.   Not judge… not preach… not try Fix It Felix… but just be present with them and let your presence reassure them.

 

Our previous generations often responded this way to injury.
“Get over it. Walk it off. Rub a little dirt on it. Don’t be a baby. It’s not so bad.”

You don’t just get over trauma. You must HEAL from it.

 

Progressive clicks each line

The 3 Types of Trauma

Acute – Response from a one-time traumatic event.

A 1 time event.
Car accident – Natural disaster – Lost your career during Covid – Physical complication – Date rape

It happened 1 time, but your RESPONSE TO THE EVENT is traumatic.

Chronic – Long-term response from prolonged or repeated events.

This is not a 1 time event.
Bullied – Racism – Porn – Unsafe Home Life (alcoholism, drug abuse) – Sexually abused

It happened more than 1 time, and your RESPONSE TO THE REPEATED EVENT is traumatic.

Complex—Response to multiple and ongoing events.

This trauma includes things you have gone through in the past and things you are going through currently.

The abusive home life you were raised in… the similar abuse you are experiencing in your current marriage. These issues combine to make for complex trauma.

Trauma changes how you see People, God, and Life.

Difficult to trust people.

Because they were inappropriately touched by someone, they have trouble trusting the innocent touch of others. An innocent hug could cause a flash back… or the smell of cologne.

Because they were abused by an authority figure, they distrust everyone in authority.

Because they grew up in a home that struggled with finances, they respond to that chronic trauma with a dysfunctional view and fear about money and food. They may horde things.

Because someone traumatized you as a child, you are traumatized at the thought of someone doing that to your children.

 

How do we Heal?

I want to use a Bible Character as our example today. There is a Bible Character who has examples of Acute, Chromic, and Complex trauma. We may not think of him as a trauma character… and that is because he ultimately walked in God’s grace in such a way that God was magnified and not his trauma.

The Apostle Paul

Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament.
Paul had amazing revelation.
Paul was used by God to preach to the Gentile Church.

Paul lived through trauma.

 

Paul was arresting Christians when a light from heaven knocks him to the ground.

Paul hears the audible voice of Jesus. And Jesus does not say “Paul I really love you and I have a plan for your life.” No the voice of Jesus confronts Paul directly and says, “Why are you persecuting me?” “Now get up and go into the nearby city and you will be told what to do.”

Paul gets up, opens his eyes, and is blind. “Jesus does not say don’t worry about your eyes I will heal you later.”  Paul travels for 3 days completely blind with no hope of seeing again.

This is Acute Trauma.

 

Paul goes into Damascus. A Christian named Ananias prays for him and he is healed and receives the Gospel of Jesus. He is baptized in water and Spirit and goes from Christian Killer to Killer Christian.

 

Paul is on the right path, but the trauma continues.

The rest of his Paul’s life he endured chronic & complex trauma. Repeatedly Paul would go to a city and then after preaching Jesus would have to escape the city because people were trying to kill him.

• He is lowered from a basket over the wall of a city, because people are looking to kill him.
• He is stoned to death in a city, they throw his body out of the city, and then God raises him and he walks back into the city.
• He is arrested multiple times and his back is beaten with a whip.

This trauma happened more than once… it was chronic.

Paul endured ongoing, severe trauma. You can too!

 

How do we heal?

1. We process the pain of our trauma.

We don’t heal by ignoring the trauma…suppressing the trauma…forgetting the trauma.

We reject that! We start to heal when you CONFESS it and PROCESS it.

I am speaking to people who have been abused. You do not want to remember it.

I am speaking to people who have been raped. You want to bury it because it makes you feel helpless.

I am speaking to people who have been abandoned. You want to forget it because it makes you feel vulnerable.

You avoid, you hide, and you isolate. You do this out of a sense of PROTECTION.

Instead of seeking connection, we prioritize protection.

We have these Connect Groups. We do not have connect groups because we think you aren’t busy enough during the week. We have Connect Groups because we don’t heal in isolation. We heal best in community.

We are starting a brand new Connect Group series this week.  It’s time for you to heal. It’s time for you to step into a connected community.

How do we heal?

1. We process the pain of our trauma.

If we don’t process our trauma we…

• Ignore the pain
• Our wound don’t heal
• We search for something else to cope and numb the pain -Drugs, alcohol, sex… materialism, greed, non-stop entertainment.

 

There are even some Christians that think it is not faith to admit, confess, and process your pain, sickness, or injury. They will tell you to not claim it… I wonder what they do with the Apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28(NIV) I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Paul names his trauma. He confesses his hardship. Paul processes the pain.

2 Corinthians 1:8 (NIV) We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.

He wrote this. He admitted it so he could process it.

If you have ever hurt so bad that you did not think you could endure, and you thought it might be better to just die… you are not alone. The writer of the majority of the New Testament felt just like that.

Find a safe place with the right people and begin to process. Trusted friends. Connect Group. Your pastor. A Counselor.

How do we heal?

1. We process the pain of our trauma.
2. We prayerfully press into God with our trauma.

We pray to God. We talk to God. We even complain to God.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 talks about A THORN. The thorn represented something that gave Paul great pain, sorrow, disappointment.

We all have a thorn.  I have a thorn. Just admit that. There is something that is tormenting us.

We don’t know exactly what Paul’s thorn was… but we know this.

2 Corinthians 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

3 seasons of intense ongoing Holy Spirit prayer.

You can take your hurt to God.
Then you can take your hurt to God again.
And then you can take it a 3rd time!

You can unload on God. Tell God how it wasn’t fair. Tell God how it shouldn’t have happened! Tell Him how you didn’t want it to happen and that you don’t like the pain you feel now.

Cry out to God that you don’t know what to do… don’t know how to heal.

Be honest! Don’t hold back! God can handle your honesty. His Word says to…

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

When we pray to God we expect an answer. I have to warn you that the answer is not always as we expected.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God did not take the pain away. God did not make it as though the pain never happened. God can do that, but God chose instead to use the pain to reveal His Grace and power through weakness.

There are glimpses of Grace and Power that are only seen when we are weak.

God show me your grace, it is sufficient. God let the power of Jesus Christ rest on me.

Prayer was a part of the healing process for Paul. God answers, but his answer may surprise you.

How do we heal?

1. We process the pain of our trauma.
2. We prayerfully press into God with our trauma.
3. We pursue purpose in our trauma.

It may be too soon to talk about this with someone who is hurting. If that is you, then I want you to treat this as information for you at a later time. You may need to spend more time in step 1 & 2. We understand.

 

2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV) 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

This is the same Paul who gave us a list of his trauma. This is the same Paul who prayed 3 times about a thorn. This same Paul declares that God is the God of all comfort.

4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Paul reveals a purpose for us.  God comforts us in our pain, so that we can comfort others in pain.

There is purpose in our pain. I am NOT saying that God caused the pain on purpose. I am saying that God’s comfort, healing, and restoration is attached to purpose.

You are not the only person on the planet hurting. The God of all comfort can comfort you so that you can comfort others.

More than Recovery – Redemption

Recovery can be seen as lesser pain, able to better respond and move forward. God wants more than recovery for you. God wants redemption for you.

If you were to recover from your trauma, you would better react to your memories with less anxiety and fear. That would be great, but God has better.

There is a work of God’s grace where he can take your deepest hurts… The same hurts you would never want to talk about…. The same feelings and emotions that you would want to hide… The thoughts that you would be horrified if others knew… By God’s Grace He can take your worst loss and redeem it into a victory.

I can’t explain how He does it, but I have seen Him do it over and over.

I have seen God take a weakness and redeem it into strength.

I have seen God take shame and redeem it into a testimony.

I have seen God take the story that someone would never want to tell and redeem so that they are telling that story over a microphone to thousands and setting thousands of people free with a message of hope.

I have seen God take the abused and redeem them into the best counselors, healers, and ministers.

I have seen people transformed from wanting to simply feel better, to want to save others.

I have seen people redeemed from hatred and anger from their past trauma, to where they love at a level that is just like Jesus.

I don’t understand it, but I have seen it.

• It takes time.
• It takes process and work.
• It takes admitting you are not ok.
• It takes faith.
• It takes a community.
• It takes pressing into God.
• It takes grace and the power of Christ.

And this is how Romans 8:28 is true.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

Your step towards redemption starts today. Will you come take that step?