A Biblical Understanding of Trauma – and How to Heal
In the Bible there are two scriptures that are foundational to a biblical understanding of trauma.
David, who I believe to be one of the most traumatized people in the Bible, declared in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” The term brokenhearted means “to be shattered into pieces.” If you were to take a mirror and throw it on the floor, it would shatter. If you were to look at your face through that shattered mirror, you would see pieces of your face all over. For many people, this is how they respond to trauma—they feel broken on the inside. Because they have been so wounded, they put up walls around their heart, walls of shame and guilt, feeling responsible for what has happened or what they have done. They shelter their broken heart because they don’t want any more wounding. They may put on a mask of happiness and function in the world, but the reality is that they are so broken no one ever gets to see their real self because they are sheltered behind the walls they have put up.
Some translations of the Bible refer to the “crushed in spirit” as “contrite in heart or spirit,” with the idea of contrite being “I’m sorry for my sin.” The root word in Hebrew is “crushed.” When you are crushed in this way, the weight of what you’ve seen or what you carry is so heavy that you feel crushed all the time. I hear testimonies from people who feel crushed by the weight of what they carry without knowing how to get rid of it.
David declares—and this is a wonderful promise—that God is near to the brokenhearted. He saves those crushed in spirit. In Psalm 147:3, David ups the ante and says that God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. There is a hope and promise that no matter how shattered you are or how much trauma you have been through, God is the God who heals the brokenhearted. He not only heals us; He binds up our hearts too. He brings shattered pieces of our broken heart back together so that we can feel whole again.
As I mentioned earlier, when someone experiences trauma, they can feel what I call “dis-integrated.” This means that for them, it feels like the pieces of their mind and heart will never come together again. There is this piece over here and that piece over there, and the pieces never seem to connect. This is dis-integration. The only way re-integration happens to anyone is when Jesus Christ becomes the center of their life.
It says in Colossians 1 that the entire universe is held together through the power of Jesus. Not only did God create the entire universe; He literally sustains the universe, keeping everything together. The inference is that the planets are held in orbit, not by gravity, but the power of Jesus holding things in place. If that is true, then only by His power can we see a re-integration of our lives no matter how broken and chaotic they have become.
Isaiah 61:1-3 has become the bones and structure upon which rests everything I do in ministry.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor (Isaiah 61:1-3).
This passage of Scripture is a prophecy about the coming Messiah, Jesus. Isaiah declares that when Messiah comes, this is what He will look like and how you will know that He is in fact the true Messiah. This is fascinating because in Luke 4, Jesus returns to His home synagogue, and one of the first acts of His ministry is to read from Isaiah 61. What a Holy coincidence that the reading that day was Isaiah 61! When He finished reading, He then declared that the scripture had been fulfilled. Jesus began His ministry by declaring that He was the true Messiah. I want you who are reading this right now to understand how you will know Messiah has come.
Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me.” The first thing Jesus tells us is that there is an anointing on His life. Second, He says that He will bring good news to the poor. He will not come to the rich and famous or the religious establishment or heads of government—He will come to the afflicted and the poor. They are His main audience. This is part of the “good news.” The word gospel means “good news.” The next statement Jesus makes is very significant. It doesn’t say He will multiply food, get people saved, or cleanse lepers. The identifying mark of the Messiah is this—He has been sent by God to bind up the brokenhearted, bring liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners. The identifying mark of Messiah is to minister healing to the broken soul of humankind.
Humankind is broken from the trauma of sin, sickness, death, chaos, and hatred. It only makes sense that the primary mission of Jesus in this world is to declare the good news to the afflicted—the good news that He is here to heal broken hearts. He is here to declare freedom to those who have been kidnapped by evil—to set them free and break chains. He is here to declare to those guilty of horrific things that if you have a heart to repent, He will open the prison door and set you free. The power of Jesus the Messiah will set not only captives free, it will even set the guilty free.
Then, in Isaiah 61 Jesus goes on to declare the favorable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, which is the year of Jubilee in the Jewish calendar. That is the day when everything that had been stolen, everything that had been taken from people was returned to everyone. Those who were sold into slavery because of debt or other reasons were set free from captivity. People in debtor’s prison were set free. There is a sense of complete restoration that even if your own choices caused you to fall into captivity or imprisonment, on the Day of Jubilee all is restored in Jesus’ name. That is the description of the ministry of Messiah. When we give Him is our sin and brokenness, He does a great exchange.
Isaiah 61 begins by telling us of the Lord’s favor toward us, then continues by telling us that along with this favor we will receive His comfort:
To comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations (Isaiah 61:2-4).
Instead of mourning your loss, instead of walking in a spirit of grieving and mourning, you receive comfort. There is a reason why Holy Spirit is a comforter. Ultimately, we need comfort from God to heal our trauma and brokenness if we are to step out into unfamiliar places. We need comfort during those times. He gives us comfort instead of mourning, a garland of beauty instead of ashes.
If you recall the story of Job in the Bible, at one point he had lost everything and was covered in boils. He was sitting in a pile of ashes scraping his skin with a broken piece of pottery. That is about as bad as it gets. God tells us that instead of living in the ashes of all that you have lost, He will give you a garland of beauty so that you are not identified by what you have lost, but instead you are identified by what God calls you—and He calls you beautiful. He says He will give you a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. When people get set free from trauma, they talk about feeling lighter. This feeling of lightness comes because they are no longer carrying the weight of the trauma anymore. People who carry trauma are weighed down. Jesus says that He will lift that weight from us and clothe us in praise. He will shift our identity. We no longer have to live as afflicted. We become oaks of righteousness so that God may be glorified.
Living as Overcomers
As a Baptist, I heard lots of sermons. I’m not against Baptists. I have heard a lot of preaching from Baptists about how God gets glory in our suffering, and that when we suffer for Him God gets glory from our faithfulness. There is a truth in that, but there is also a truth that God gets some of His greatest glory when we are set free from trauma, addiction, pain, and the identity of affliction. When our identity becomes like an oak of righteousness (so that God may be glorified) we are no longer victims or the oppressed. We become victors and overcomers. Instead of being under the enemy’s feet, the position is reversed—now the enemy is under our feet. That is how God gets some of the greatest glory on earth.
When you are a “planting of the Lord,” not only do you provide shade and comfort and shelter to others, you produce acorns, which produce other oaks. You are no longer multiplying pain and hurt and trauma. Now you are reproducing fruit with seed in it that multiples over and over again. Your greatest weakness becomes your greatest platform for ministry.
Our response to trauma, when viewed through the lens of Scripture, is broken heartedness. I want to highlight three factors that impact how we deal with broken heartedness. The first has to do with our family roots. Many people who experience trauma don’t carry it around with them because they have strong family roots. Their family has taught them how to deal with difficult times. They experience a very strong sense of belonging. When you know people really care for you, you have a high level of emotional security. I am an only child. My mom and dad were my biggest cheerleaders. They’re both in heaven now, and I know they are standing on the balcony of heaven cheering me on. I grew up secure in who I was in their love. I have been able to walk through trauma in my life because I grew up with a sense of belonging and being loved. People who deal with trauma successfully typically come from strong families.
The second factor has to do with faith. People who are able to handle trauma in healthy ways typically have a strong faith. They walk in faith to such a degree that they can roll pain over onto Jesus. They know the yolk of Jesus is easy and His burden is light. Jesus says, “Come to me you weary, and I will give you rest.” The sense of walking in the rest of God in strong faith helps us walk through trauma without it sticking to us.
The third factor that helps us deal with our broken heartedness is the ability to process trauma. Processing is very important. Those who have the ability and opportunity to process trauma right away are much less likely to carry it around with them. They learn how to lay it down right away. We had a young man who was part of our global school who was the sergeant of a crew that would blow up all IEDs in a war zone so the troops could walk on the road safely. This young man had served three tours of duty in war zones. When I questioned him, he didn’t seem to have any post-traumatic stress. As we talked, I realized why. He said that at the end of the day he would get his guys together, and no matter who had been injured or what had happened, they would talk about it. They would talk all the trauma out and deal with it instead of carrying it to bed that night.
There is a principle involved in not letting the sun go down on your anger. Dealing with trauma and the emotional responses it produces, no matter what you have been through that day, means rolling it all over to Jesus before you go to bed. When you forgive and release and get cleansed, you can sleep in peace. God designed sleep to regenerate us so that we are ready for each new day. Firefighters and police officers and EMTs who see trauma all the time use these three factors—strong family, faith, and the ability to process the trauma—to stay healthy. In this way they are able to continue to do their jobs. The medical community also employs these three factors to help deal with trauma by getting their team together and debriefing when the work is over for the day. When we have been through something traumatic, we need to debrief with someone. We need to be able to put into words what we have experienced. Women have a grace on them to process in a way that men don’t have. Women know how to put words to feelings. Men need to learn how to do this because we have sons and grandsons who need to be raised up in healthy ways. Society has taught us, particularly as men, to suck it up, get over it, stuff it down, and not cry. In Jesus’ time, it wasn’t just women who carried dead bodies through the streets weeping; it was the men too. That kind of mourning gave everyone an opportunity to get out their grief. When you continue to carry grief, it does harm to your soul and your body.
God provides healing from trauma. If you let Him, He will take the broken pieces of your heart, put them back together, and make you whole. I have seen it happen time and again. This is not just theology; it is reality.
Holy Spirit, we welcome Your Presence to fulfill the mission of Jesus according to Isaiah 61:1-3, which says that God sent Jesus to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives, and to release prisoners from darkness. Jesus, thank You for a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
