PEACE OF MIND pt 6  

3 Ways to Seek Healing From Trauma 

 August 18, 2024 Sam Goins

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

• The wounds you can’t see can hurt as much as the ones you can see. 

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. Romans 8:28  

The Three Types of Trauma 

• Acute: a response from a one-time traumatic event

• Chronic: a long-term response from prolonged or repeated events 

• Complex: a response to multiple and ongoing events   

A Few Places Paul Faced Traumatic Events

• Damascus (Acts 9:23-25)                  • Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:50-51)                        • Iconium(Acts 14:2, 5-6) 

• Lystra (Acts 14:19)                             • Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-9)                                     • Berea (Acts 17:13-14) 

• Corinth (Acts 18:12-17)                    • Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-36) 

1. BRING TO LIGHT THE PAIN OF OUR TRAUMA.  

• Instead of seeking connection, we prioritize protection

• We don’t heal in isolation. We heal best in community. 

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three 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, ²⁶I 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. ²⁷I 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. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.   2 Corinthians 11:23-28  

… We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.         

2 Corinthians 1:8   

1. ASKING GOD FOR STRENGTH AND WISDOM TO WALK WITH OUR TRAUMA. 

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

But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ... ¹⁰That 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.    2 Corinthians 12:9-10  

Nothing can change your past, 

But God can heal your broken heart. 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18   

1. LEARNING TO USE OUR TRAUMA. 

Praise be to … the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.   2 Corinthians 1:3-4  

  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.    Romans 8:28