News Flash: For Christians, trauma is a good thing! Including those traumatic events that drive us to the edge of despair! Consider the Scripture…
2 Corinthians 1:8 We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Read those verses again. Paul and his companions experienced some kind of trauma. It was so severe they thought they were going to die. Their emotional state got to the point of giving up. But they didn’t die. The trauma abated. They were delivered. And God had a reason for both the presence of the trauma AND delivering them from it. Re-read the sentence in red…
When trauma enters a genuine Christian’s life, their automatic response is to flee to God… to pray to God… to rely on God… to trust God for the outcome regardless of what it may be. They do not shake their fist at Him. They do not sit in judgment of Him. Instead they seek understanding FROM Him of their situation, circumstances, and what He would have them to learn.
Read again the sentence in red. The reason God providentially allowed/placed the trauma in Paul and his companion’s life was to teach them something very important. God MADE THEM (Meditate on that)… God MADE THEM rely on HIM rather than themselves. God’s concern was more about faith than physical deliverance. God’s concern was more about their sanctification than protecting them from immediate emotional fear. In fact… God used traumatic fear to increase their faith!
God has a purpose for whatever trauma you encounter. The reason He sovereignly and providentially places/allows it into your life is to draw you Himself. As Larry Crabb said, “Every event of life is God calling us to a closer walk with Him.” The result is then greater faith, trust, and reliance upon God rather than ourselves. Therefore…
Trauma in a Christian’s life is ultimately a good thing! Not because of the pain in and of its self, but because of what the result is in the hands of God… our sanctification and maturity in Christ. THAT is why it is written in James 1:2-4…
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.