DEALING WITH TRAUMA

As I am writing this, I have just been through a very traumatic experience. The day before yesterday to be exact. So this is not a "been there done that" post. This is a "weathering the storm right here right now" post.

My husband and I have spent the whole of Saturday night helping our child fight for his life. I'm not ready to share the details... I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I so want to forget that it happened, but my brain won't let me! It keeps generating snapshots of what happened, at moments when I least expect it, causing my knees to wobble and uncontrollable sobs to take over my body...

The weird thing is that I had been so strong during the whole episode. I know that it was God's Hand maintaining a bubble of peace around me in order for me to be able to think clearly. His Grace kept me from realizing, during those horrible hours, that our child might be dying. I was just doing what I needed to do to keep him alive until the crisis was over. I did not know then everything that I know now, such as the fact that, medically speaking, the odds were against my child's survival. Yet he did survive, and the only reason I can attribute to that, is that God is good and kind.

He performed a miracle.

I was praying all night long -- of course -- but at one specific moment I sat with my child's head in my lap and distinctly heard God say "stop praying from a position of fear, generate faith by praying from a position of LOVE".

I looked at him and was suddenly overcome by an immense sensation of love, but not my own -- it was God's love for my child that I was perceiving. I prayed again, but this time my heart was at peace and my trust in God was complete.

10 Minutes after my prayer my son uttered a sentence - the 1st in several hours, and the first sign that he was making a comeback!

The next day, once my child was stable, much of my energy went into comforting him, but I also busied myself with planning ahead, so that something like that would never happen again.

And then this morning came, and, unexpectedly, I snapped. My heart started to ache, my eyes to weep and my treaturous brain to remind me incessantly of my son's semi-lifeless body in my arms. Every time this happens, I tell myself that he is okay now, but every few hours I find myself breaking down helplessly.

It is during one of these moments that I have realized the power behind the verse in

2 Corinthians 10: 15 :

"...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (AMPLIFIED)

You see, the most powerful tool that we possess, is our imagination. It is the place where we create inventions, build daydreams and write stories, but it is also where the desire for sin is entertained until it manifests in the flesh and where we conjure up thoughts of dread that cause us to live in fear. In short: it is the place where both good and bad can be conceived and we get to decide which one of the two we are going to invest ourselves in.

Today, I had to bring every flashback to obedience in Christ. I couldn't keep it from happening, but I could stop myself from thinking "what if" this and "what if" that. The imagination is very quick to be triggered, so it takes willpower to change its gears and steer it in the opposite direction. Every time I am confronted with a "imagine what would have happened if...", I focus my thoughts on the miracle that God has done and the hope that we now have in the future because of His intervention.

Another wonderful "trick" that I apply, is one that I have learned from Kat Kerr. It is called the "Soul Cleanser". (Follow the link and scroll down to a short audio that will be really worth your while.) The first time I tried it was three years ago when I struggled with a deep depression. I immediately felt the heavy burden of depression lift from my shoulders. Since, I have used it many times to untie the fetters we so easily chain ourselves in through sin and unbelief.

Today I had to loosen from my soul every negative memory, thought and feeling that got "stuck" inside my soul the other night, and I even had to do it again earlier as my mind caught me off guard and reeled back in time, but as I am writing this sentence, I am already starting to feel so much better, lighter and genuinely happier.

If you are carrying a heavy burden right now, I want to invite you to try out my God-given recipe:

- take everything to Daddy. Talk to Him about it. Yes, He already knows, but He doesn't mind listening again and again.

- don't refuse yourself the privilege of crying or even wailing - God has not given us tears for nothing! Only, when you've had your cry, move on. Avoid slipping into self-pity.

- now, loosen from your soul in Jesus Name, verbaly and in faith, every negative thing that is keeping you down (fear, doubt, sadness, anger, bitterness, reproach, etc.) and replace these by binding into your soul the joy of the Lord, love (that shuns fear), perfect peace, etc.

- finally, keep the reins on your imagination very tight and refuse your thoughts to go there where only sadness and fear can be found.

Healing does take time. Doing the above will speed up the process, but I know as I am typing this that I might still have to deal with my emotions a few times before they settle completely. While I hate going through the process, I already sense that I have grown through the experience. My compassion for the traumatized has greatly increased and I am gaining precious first-hand experience in how to help others overcome trauma.

If you are aching right now because of something that has happened to you, please don't despair. God always makes a way. When the enemy comes in, like a flood God raises up a standard against Him... He causes every situation to work out for our good...!

So... what if He is using my situation, the one that Satan has orchestrated with the sole purpose of destruction, to not only turn my son's life around (because it is exactly what is unfolding right now), but to also turn YOUR situation around through the advice in this post...?