Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Traumas around the Holidays

The LORD is with His children always.

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit."

It seems like traumas should not happen, ever, but they surely do.  When they happen around our special days we are even more shook up, on edge, anxious, disappointed, saddened...

Our world is fallen, unspeakably sinful, and every day points this out to us even more.   

"We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 

And so the traumas come, and they tend to hang on to us, even "control" us. 

Life goes on and we seemingly stand still. 

We love the LORD! so we can not stop, but must continue to live our lives full and rich in Him even as we grieve!  

We can not allow our short or long-standing traumas to control our lives. Yes, we can acknowledge our agonies, they are a fact, but then we pick up our sheaves and continue for the LORD.

"Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.  He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

**If you, precious child of God, are in a time of traumas, agonies, grieving... I certainly understand your pain and sadness'. Do not give up, but run to the One and Only who can easily carry your agonies, remind you of His marvelous joy in His grace and mercies, in which He showers us generously, even during our holidays!

"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him."

*

Psalm 34:15-18
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Romans 8:18-25

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 
that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it."

Psalm 126
"When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,
 We were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter
 And our tongue with joyful shouting;
 Then they said among the nations,
 “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us;
 We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
 As the streams in the South.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.


He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

Lamentations 3:21-26
"Remember my affliction and my wandering, 
the wormwood and bitterness.

Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he waits silently

For the salvation of the Lord.

*

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jill,

The "hallmark channel movie" mentality during the holidays is, for some, a painful mirage. The holidays can actually be a difficult time for various reasons. The world is the world, so we can't expect them to understand or care, but oh, that the church would understand that some of her saints simply do not have the "happy hallmark life" type of existence. Those with unsaved family usually have a very different experience than those with believing family.

-Carolyn

The Piper's Wife said...

Thank you, Carolyn, for your comment. We just watched a Hallmark Christmas movie, so I understand what you are saying. The plots are contrived and we know it will end happy. I, personally, want a story or a movie to end happy as real life rarely does, and it also has enough stress.

I have found the church at large does not understand or does not know how to handle agonies, struggles, life long traumas in others very well at all. This is another example of how the church at large has become like our culture. The one place which should KNOW how to show understanding and compassion is the Church, which means God's people.

I rarely have encountered a godly person who truly knows how to show compassion and kindness to a hurting person unless they also have had traumas in their lives. Those of us who live in ongoing traumas are in exhaustion mode because of it, and mostly, we can only come alongside others for short spurts, and this is with the LORD's strength.

Reality: I suppose it is easier to think someone else will help those in trauma. Another factor is having the expertise of knowing how to come alongside another person. Yes, God's people should have learned and know how to show compassion. *We live in a strange world full of strange people---

Anonymous said...

Hello Jill,
I’ve not posted in a while...my computer wouldn’t let me! I think I’ve changed some settings though. Anyway, when I visit your website, I always appreciate what you share with your readers, the pretty pictures, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, your scriptural insights, a n d those lovely children’s books!

May the Lord give you his peace and comfort every day. You are a sweet sister in the Lord.

Kathryn

The Piper's Wife said...

Oh, Kathryn, how kind of you. Thank you!