We may find that it is hard to give God thanks when we peer through one lens and see our lives littered with the effects of past trauma and pain. However, when we look from a fresh vantage point, we recognize the overwhelming evidence of the Father’s faithfulness.

He preserved us for something better, by meeting us in the worst possible circumstances. God honors His Word, promising to walk us through valleys and position us in mountains. While that can be difficult to embrace in light of a traumatic past, the greater Truth of God’s love pierces through darkness and present despair.

Our personal or family trauma may have generated issues we don’t know how to manage, but they can never cancel God’s faithfulness. In walking with the Lord, even through pain, we discover areas that need healing. When the Holy Spirit brings these areas to our attention, He intends to address what has wounded us.

God can’t and won’t work without our invitation, permission, and cooperation. Yet, when we agree with Him, we allow the Holy Spirit to produce healing through what seems impossible. Here, we bring our wounds and encounter the Healer. Here, in the place of pain, marked by the onset of trauma, God meets us in the way only He can.

Our willingness affords Him the space and opportunity to go beneath the surface and draw out what is toxic while replacing it with His healing truth. This is where the Lord can create beauty out of ashes (Isaiah 61:3). When we allow Jesus to be and do for us all that the Father intended, we partner with the Spirit to shift our personal worlds into a life that exceeds what we asked, thought, or imagined (Ephesians 3:20).

Our freshly cultivated knowledge doesn’t exempt us from the areas where we work through challenges. Yet, it reveals that we can appropriate promises outlined in the Scriptures to receive God’s guarantee by faith. God has promised to complete a good work in us.

We can rest in confidence that Jesus has already secured it (Philippians 1:6). The Promise Maker is also the Promise Keeper. He initiated it, and His Spirit will give the grace to implement it in fullness.

We have a part to play in the miracle we desire, and that is to believe. We don’t have to force anything, but rather activate and obey what we’ve heard from the Holy Spirit, and it’s done by faith. Our confidence in Christ embraces Jesus’ final words on the Cross, encouraging us that what we need spiritually, or in life, has already been finished, accomplished, and settled through Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice.

As we grow in our relationship with Him, we experience the continuation of this good work. It shows up in our progress, as we grow in faith, increase in strength, multiply in joy, and reveal God’s greater glory.

Next steps to heal past trauma and present pain

There are times when you may feel as if the residue of past trauma is polluting your heart and mind. You don’t have to remain pinned under the weight of old pain. Remind yourself that you are worthy of living the life God has called you into. Search the available resources on this site and invite the Lord to speak, guiding you to the right counselor in Redding, California. Contact our office at Redding Christian Counseling to make an appointment with them to resolve your difficult past and follow God’s path for your future.