“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” — Psalm 147:3 KJV
Introduction: Wounds That Don’t Bleed
Some pain never scabs over. Some memories play on repeat. Trauma doesn’t always show up in scars or casts — it often hides in silence, sleeplessness, shame, and sudden tears. It can feel like a war that never ends, or like a childhood that never really began. Many who suffer with PTSD and complex trauma walk with invisible limps — sometimes mistaken for coldness, anger, or rebellion — when in truth they’re just surviving.
I write this article for the soldier who came home but never really did. For the child who mistook rage for discipline. For the ones who feel stuck in cycles of fear, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness. For my own brother. For myself. For every person who has tried everything and still hears the echo: “Why am I not better yet?”
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. And you are not beyond the reach of God’s healing.
1. What Is Trauma and PTSD?
Trauma occurs when a person experiences overwhelming stress that exceeds their ability to cope — such as war, abuse, accidents, betrayal, violence, or deep loss.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is the psychological and physiological aftermath of that trauma. It can include:
- Intrusive memories or flashbacks (sometimes called day-mares)
- Nightmares and insomnia
- Hypervigilance (always feeling on edge or unsafe)
- Emotional numbness or detachment
- Irritability, panic, or sudden rage
- Depression, shame, or a sense of being permanently broken
In cases of childhood abuse or long-term suffering, this may develop into Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), with additional struggles like distorted self-worth, difficulty with trust, and recurring emotional flashbacks.
Trauma rewires the brain. It is not a failure of faith — it is the body’s attempt to survive overwhelming fear. And healing does not come through shame or silence, but through safety, truth, and compassion.
2. Biblical Examples of Trauma
The Bible does not hide trauma — it tells the stories of men and women who lived it:
- Job: A man who lost everything and sat in ashes, scraping his wounds, crying, “Why was I even born?” (Job 3)
- Tamar: A woman raped by her half-brother, who lived “desolate in her brother’s house.” (2 Samuel 13)
- David: A warrior with blood on his hands and grief in his soul. “I am weary with my groaning.” (Psalm 6:6)
- Jeremiah: The weeping prophet who lived through a national collapse. “My soul hath them still in remembrance.” (Lamentations 3:20)
- Jesus: Betrayed, beaten, stripped, and crucified. A man of sorrows who knew what it was to sweat blood and cry out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
God is not afraid of your trauma. He’s not distant from it. He stepped into it. The wounds in His hands are proof: the Son of God bore pain to redeem ours.
3. What Trauma Does to the Mind and Body
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, trauma physically alters the brain’s fear and memory centers. The amygdala becomes overactive (fear), the hippocampus shrinks (memory distortion), and the prefrontal cortex weakens (logical thinking).
That’s why trauma survivors may:
- Be triggered by sounds, smells, or places
- Overreact emotionally or shut down completely
- Forget details or relive them intensely
- Feel confused by their own behavior
This is not weakness — it is injury. And like any injury, it needs real healing — not judgment, not dismissal, not more pretending.
4. A Personal Cry: “Why Can’t I Escape This?”
My younger brother served in multiple war zones and now lives reclusively. He suffers with day-mares, struggles to sleep, and carries burdens no one should bear alone. Over-medicated at times, under-supported at others, he has been through more than most could imagine. And like many veterans and trauma survivors, he is in a high-risk category for suicide.
And yet he believes. The flicker of faith has never gone out. He is not alone. And neither are you.
In my own story, childhood abuse left me with a version of “correction” that was more about control than care. I learned anger before I learned grace. And though I’ve spent a lifetime unlearning shame, I’ve also found this: discipline restores, but punishment divides. God is not the parent who screamed — He is the Father who embraces.
5. The Path to Healing
God can bring healing through a variety of means:
- Safe People: Pastors, counselors, friends who listen without trying to fix.
- Trauma-Informed Therapy: EMDR, CBT, and somatic approaches that help reprocess memories.
- Spiritual Anchors: Psalms of lament. Scriptures of God’s nearness. Prayer without pretense.
- Medication: When needed, the right medication can stabilize the storms within.
- Time and Grace: Healing from trauma is not linear. It is slow, sacred, and often incomplete — but still real.
There is no shame in the process. God is not impatient with your pace. The Good Shepherd leads gently those with young — and those with wounded hearts.
6. What the Church Must Understand
The Church must stop asking trauma survivors, “Why aren’t you over it yet?”
We must become:
- Hospitals, not clubs — places where it’s okay to not be okay
- Listeners, not fixers — people who hold space, not shame
- Protectors, not silencers — communities that confront abuse and cultivate healing
The Church should be the place where the woman with the issue of blood finds healing. Where the leper is touched. Where the ashamed are lifted. Where survivors don’t just survive — they are seen, known, and slowly made whole.
Final Thoughts: Jesus and the Wounded
Jesus still bears scars. That means our scars don’t disqualify us — they invite us closer to Him.
He heals the brokenhearted. He binds up wounds. He walks into rooms of fear and says, “Peace, be still.” He listens. He restores. He never rushes or condemns.
If you’re still hurting, you’re still loved. And you are not defined by what happened to you — but by the One who redeems all things.
Even trauma.
Even you.
He is not done yet.