SuffeRing — Week 6

Trauma is not the event itself but the response to deeply distressing experiences, and the wounds we cannot see often take far longer to heal than the ones we can. This message rejects the well-worn advice to just get over it and argues that we do not get over trauma; we heal from it. Drawing on the life of the Apostle Paul, who endured acute, chronic, and complex trauma across his missionary journeys, the teaching traces a biblical path toward healing: processing the pain with trusted people, prayerfully pressing into God, and ultimately pursuing purpose in what we have suffered. Second Corinthians anchors the claim that God comforts us so we can comfort others. The honest acknowledgment that trauma may not have been our fault, paired with the conviction that pursuing healing is still our responsibility, frames a careful, pastoral treatment of a heavy subject.