Ed Welch opened the CCEF 2023 conference to a room packed full of attendees. He said that in many ways we already recognize trauma. The first part of trauma is that death has come close to us.
“Death is a kind of power as scripture identifies it.” But he also notes that death doesn’t travel alone. It’s companions include wickedness, works of the flesh, sin, neglect and a co-conspirator of the devil himself. Trauma will have the devil’s fingerprints, leaving you with questions about the character of God, questions about what is true of ourselves, isolation, shame, silence, and hopelessness.
Secondly, we have been changed by death coming close, the trauma intrudes into our present lives. Trauma can leave you voiceless and without words. Your body itself may not feel like your own.
The majority of our sufferings can stick longer than we imagined. Many times painful events don’t seem to fade away easily. But the good news is: “There is no dark corner in human experience where Christ has not gone—both on His way to the cross and on His way to finding you.”
He challenged us to be alert to studying two books, to understanding Scripture and also understanding people.
“A pastor must study two books, not just one. Certainly, he must know the book of Scripture… He must also be a master in reading the book of the human heart. He must know men no less well than he knows his Bible.” – J. I. Packer
When encountering trauma we have an opportunity to know a person and the unique consequences that have unfolded in their own lives. Ed encouraged us to come with humility and love. We are coming as prayerful students, with a keen sense that there is much we don’t know about the person in front of us. We come with love and compassion. Knowing Scripture, we can also meet them with great confidence in what God says.
But how do we proceed when we encounter good and true words in scripture that don’t seem to go deep enough to touch and heal our trauma?
- Talk to the Lord. Don’t simply be educated by scripture, but be persistent like the widow in Luke 18. Pray to know His comfort.
- The second way that scripture can become more alive is gather more people in your quest. Ask others to pray with you and for you. “I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” Psalm 22:22
- We insist that our comfort be in God alone. He must stand out among all other possible remedies. “My soul finds rest in God alone…” Psalm 62.
Since trauma is a nearness and taste of death, Jesus Christ becomes utterly necessary as the one who has power over death. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)
