Personal Trauma and Abuse
You may have been a victim of personal trauma and/or abuse. The impact of this may run deep and can be overwhelming. Quite often this issue is not addressed, and many Christians men and women live with the scars of sexual abuse during childhood by trusted relatives, domestic violence, rape or incest. Often, we do not realise the ways in which it has affected many areas of our life until the light of Christ exposes the darkness that comes with this type of trauma.
You may be experiencing one or more of the following:
- Feeling defiled
- Flashbacks
- Upsetting dreams or nightmares
- In some way feel responsible for the abuse you suffered
- Difficulty in maintaining relationships
- Thinking that you will not be good enough for anyone
- Feeling unloved
- Self-hatred
- Ashamed
- Betrayal
- Isolation
- Fear of intimacy
- Loss of joy
Scripture has examples of how carnality amongst God’s own people took hold, once such situation is the story of Tamar.
After King David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba, David's son Amnon lusted after his half-sister, Tamar. Amnon faked an illness and requested that Tamar bring him food in his bedroom. When she arrived, he grabbed her and—because he was stronger—raped her in spite of her resistance (2 Samuel 13:6–14).
Following this act, "Tamar put ashes on her head and . . . put her hand on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went" (2 Samuel 13:19 NIV). When her father David heard of it, "he was furious" (13:21 NIV). But that's it! He only got mad. David never got involved in the crisis.
When Tamar's other brother Absalom heard of it, he told her: "Be quiet now, my sister; [Amnon] is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart" (13:20). Tamar’s brother told her to be silent and her father did nothing. Tamar had no person to go to with her pain.
Your response
to your situation past or present maybe that you have put on a brave face, kept your feelings/emotions locked up inside or put up ‘walls’ attempting to protect yourself from further trauma.
Remember what you have experienced does not define you, it is only Jesus that gives you your identity:
1 Peter 2:9 - ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who you called you out of darkness into His marvellous light’
1 John 4:4 – ‘You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’
Know today that the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, can set you free from all negative emotions, thoughts and feelings that have you chained. You can choose to take back all that the enemy has robbed from you. Allow Jesus to heal you from the inside - He is just in all His ways and understands your every need.
If you have been victim of personal trauma and abuse and have always been afraid to speak, may we invite you to reach out to us in confidence. You can know a new life in Christ today, a life of victory!
If these things resonate, you may find the following testimony helpful Beauty for Ashes
Please get in touch with us here. Or start with a prayer of repentance