| Points | 100 |
| Due | October 08, 2022 |
Prompt
Why is it important to understand trauma as a soul injury? How does that impact how you would minister to someone suffering from trauma?
Essay
“You don’t get over trauma,” Dr. Hutchings puts it succinctly. People dealing with traumatic injuries need help, and “God is giving the church the keys to bring healing to trauma of the mind. Our first response is to acknowledge and receive these keys” (p. 45). To bring healing and restoration to the soul, ministers need to understand the effect trauma has on the soul. “When a person is traumatized, the soul is broken into pieces” (p. 67); the Lord alone has the power to heal our broken souls, and we are His healing agents (Ps 41:4; John 17:18).
Knowing people’s souls are broken by traumatic events, the Church is responsible for bringing relief to their souls (Mat 10:8; Luke 9:2). The Lord beckons our weary souls to come to Him,
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls (Mat 11:28-29)
We must bring those whose souls are broken to the Lord. Believers in Christ are charged with continuing His ministry of divine healing, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12).
“The healthiest hearts are not found in those who have no problems, but those who have found their heart’s true home in God. What that means for you and for me is that we come to understand that Jesus cares as much about our soul and the health of our soul as He does about our spirit and our body” (p.47). A person who has traumatic injuries is broken from within, and “our government gave up the responsibility of caring for the mentally ill,” it has always been and must be the responsibility of the Church to take in these broken souls and pray for their healing. Matthew 17 tells a story of a man with an epileptic son whom the disciples “could not cure him” (verse 16). Exasperated with their unbeliefs, the Lord exclaimed,
O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that every hour (verses 17-18)
These mentally ill and traumatized individuals are neglected in our society and are outside our churches today. Their souls cry out for deliverance, and the Church has the key to bringing healing and restoration to them, displaying the love of Jesus to those with broken souls (Ps 34:18).
100