Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
What is trauma? It is not just pain or harm that can happen to our physical body. Trauma can happen to our hearts and our emotions as well. We can experience distress or even disappointments so intense that they can create shock-like symptoms in our lives. Some of those are physical and emotional reactions.
It is not uncommon for people to create emotional fortresses around themselves to keep from dealing with that hurt or experiencing it again. Sadly, it really isn’t a fortress; it is a cage constructed by fear. I know this because I have lived in trauma.
Fear is a Prison
Fear builds an invisible structure around your life. It’s not so tight or so small that you even realize it is there. No, fear will build up high and wide enough around you so that you can move around to some degree. But it sets a ceiling on how high you can grow up or how far you can build-out. It’s like being on a long emotional leash. Most people who have experienced some trauma, there is an amount of healing that they do. They try to rebuild their lives within this invisible structure of fear. Often that fear and trauma become a place of comfort because it is familiar.
Fear Limits
One of the ways that fear limits is to fill your heart with trust issues. That lack of trust can be towards other people. It may cause you to question the heart and motives of everyone, including people who have not given you any reason to. You can question yourself and whether or not you can pursue your dreams, purpose, or even relationships. You fear you will mess it up. Sadly it can cause you to live without faith. You no longer factor God into any equation or believe that He can bring good into your life.
Exiting Trauma
I would like for you to visualize yourself exiting that structure of fear and trauma. You are too big to live there. God has dreams and plans for your life that are beyond the circumstances of that trauma. You need to see yourself leaving it behind and entering into trust.
You Can Trust God
You can trust God in ways that you can’t trust other people or even yourself. I think of this verse of trusting God with my whole heart, beyond what it means to be surrendered to Him. I can actually take my heart, all the experiences, the desires, plans, and even failures and I can turn them over to Him. He created my heart, and He knows how to handle it.
I pray that you are courageous enough to confront any area of your life that fear has become a shelter. I believe that as you acknowledge God in all of your ways that He will direct every part of your life. I believe that as you enter into His trust, that you will forge new strength and wisdom to live a vast and unhindered life. This is your year to become bigger than the structure of trauma.