Introduction

I struggled with healing trauma from my past as a Christian for years. I’ve experienced firsthand how it affects our self-esteem and our view of the world and God. In this post, I will share how to overcome trauma as a Christian. We will discuss three biblical and practical tools you can use to overcome anything in your past.

What is healing trauma, and why does it matter?

Trauma can come in two forms. Physical trauma and emotional trauma. Physical trauma stems from abuse and physical events. Emotional trauma comes from events that affect our emotions, feelings, or thoughts. In this post, we’ll be covering emotional trauma. Emotional trauma affects our psychology. Mastering overcoming trauma can help lead to greater freedom, joy, and peace. Moreover, it also helps to develop greater resilience for future events.

How do you know if you need healing?

It’s important to know if this applies to you, so here are some signs of emotional trauma in adults:

• Recurrent negative flashbacks, memories, or thoughts.
• Thoughts of self-hatred.
• Low self-esteem.
• Guilt
• Shame
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Social or relationship issues.
• Insecurity
• Negativity
• Addictions
• Mood swings or emotional instability.
• Fears
• Vicious negative cycles
• Stagnancy

Above are some of the ways our personalities suffer from unhealed trauma. Also it can seep into our everyday lives if unattended. If you relate to this, you might have unresolved issues from past wounds.

Does trauma go away?

Yes, it is possible to live completely free from trauma. I used to think it was impossible for me to ever get over all the hurt I experienced. But God is faithful and helped me through it. It takes time and requires patience. This post offers biblical and practical exercises. They can help you break free from past experiences. In addition, you’ll find more joy, peace, and freedom in your life as a result.

How to Begin Healing Trauma

1. Self-Reflection

One quick and simple way to identify trauma in your life is through self-reflection. Self-reflection means asking yourself questions about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It’s a way to understand yourself better and an outlet to express yourself. Because let’s face it, no one understands your thoughts better than you.

Doing this can help you get unstuck in a cycle of thought or overwhelming emotion. This is great for healing emotional trauma. You can identify the thoughts that trouble you the most. It’s also effective because it allows you to get your thoughts out of your head. Trauma can impact your emotions, actions, attitudes, behaviors, and what you say.

Self-reflection is great for understanding why you feel, say, or act in a specific way. It helps you gain self-awareness.

Self-reflection can also help you deal with uncomfortable past situations or memories. Self-awareness is important for understanding our cognitive makeup–our own feelings, motives, and character. Little moments can feel minor, yet they influence our self-image. Small experiences, like a friend’s words or a childhood event, can stay in our minds. They often change how we see ourselves, but we can overlook them. 

Here’s how you start self-reflection:

Take out a journal and a pen. Go somewhere private where you can be alone for a bit.

Take a few deep breaths in and out.

If it helps, you can play soft instrumental music in the background to calm your mind.

Below are a list of self-reflection questions to ask yourself to get started. 

Here are a few self-reflection questions to get you started: 

• What’s bothering me? 
• What thoughts are disturbing me? 
• When did this start?
• How did it make me feel at that moment? 

As you ask yourself questions, some answers may feel uncomfortable. They might bring up memories that cause you discomfort. That’s okay! It means you’re onto something; stick with it and keep digging. The only way to overcome the emotional trauma of the past is to face it head on. 

2. Talk to A Professional

Talking about your feelings with others is a major key to healing. We aren’t designed to do life alone. But before you go telling your friends about what’s going on in your life, consider hiring a coach instead. Getting advice from friendships can be risky because they lack perspective.

Your friends likely haven’t shared your experience. So, they may have blind spots and limited insights to help you. Others may support your feelings to keep you happy and protect your friendship.

Hiring a coach or mentor who knows about trauma is key to healing. They can help you understand how trauma impacts your life. Most often, we tell strangers things we’d never say to people who know us best. Trauma coaches and mentors can help you understand your situation better. They have been in your shoes.

3. Prayer And Fasting

Trauma affects how we see God, ourselves, and others. Biblical fasting and prayer can help with many personal problems. These include rejection, abandonment, self-esteem, and relationship issues. 

In Matthew 17:21, Jesus said, “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Some challenges can only be overcome through prayer and fasting.

Isaiah 53:4 reveals the main reason prayer and fasting works for healing trauma. “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

In this passage, “infirmity” means people with physical or mental weaknesses. It can refer to physical weakness, which stops us from doing tasks. It can also mean mental weakness. This weakness impacts our emotions, thoughts, actions, and words. When you’re dealing with trauma, you’re often dealing with the latter–mental weakness.

When you deal with trauma, you’re often dealing with the side effects of the wrongdoing of others. Meaning someone has done something to hurt you and you’re struggling as a result. Christ has redeemed us through His blood shed on the cross. Since man has hurt us, and man hurt Jesus, He understands.

So we can come to Him with our weakness and ask Him to help us overcome it. We have to work through infirmities with God. When we fast and pray, we allow God to work through our infirmities and heal us from the inside out. Fasting and praying are a personal commitment between you and God.

Here are a few things I recommend during your fast:

1. Outline your fast: How long are you fasting? What are you fasting from?
2. Commit to a specific prayer time: Meet with God at a specific time(s) during your fast.
3. Read the Word: Find scriptures that speak to you and your situation. (i.e healing, acceptance, love).
4. Keep a journal: Write down anything God shows you or tells you during your fast.
5. Avoid social media: Take the time to focus on your healing journey. Keep off social media until your fast is over.

Final Remarks About Healing Trauma

These biblical and practical principles helped me heal trauma from past experiences. If you’re struggling to overcome negative experiences from the past, don’t fret. You’re not alone. The number one way to overcome the past is to stop running from it. Face it head-on. We can only defeat our giants when we have the courage to step up to them. If you allow yourself to dig deep and work with God to overcome the hindrances in your life, you will indeed be free.