Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: a Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. Is the future brighter? I hope so. I hope.
So. In worldly conversation, it means I wish so, as in, I don't know so, but I'd like to believe so. But in God's dictionary, hope isn't wishful thinking. Hope is the inner bliss that arises from the inner certainty of future blessedness. Hope isn't a child's wild-eyed wish for a pony for Christmas.
Hope is a child's wide-eyed certainty that Christmas is coming. and that all the boxes and bows and bags hide delightful things. Hope is the delight, the joyous expectation of one day unwrapping new treasures from God. Real hope never disappoints Romans 5, 5. Hope doesn't discern all the details of God's plan.
It just knows there is a plan and that is good. Is your life destined for better days? I hope so. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. His body and his soul had been traumatized.
But his heart Was not. He was able therefore to make a promise to us that he would Grant us his own peace. by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, The Untroubled Heart, as presented at Ronilda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.
So, as you listen to today's teaching, today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Just contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastoralen.org. or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
More on this later in the program. But right now. Let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Pastor Alan Wright. When all that comes back and is still kind of in the unconscious.
It's like the body is reliving the trauma. And that's what we want to get out of, right? No, well, the trauma itself was bad enough. We don't want to relive it over and over and over.
Okay. Jesus came to help with that. When I was in fourth grade, I really had a great childhood going on. You know, we played in the street with all the kids, and then all of a sudden they said we're having a family meeting, and my father came in and announced, he said, that dad's not going to be living at home anymore. I was 10 years old.
I had no idea what to do with that. I had no idea what to do with that. I mean, it is like my world is falling apart. I didn't, how's a 10-year-old process that? And I didn't really have anybody to process with.
At the time, really, nobody in our family really knew the Lord. We didn't even have spiritual resources at that time. And so that was a big T trauma. Big tree.
Something hit me. And The fast part of my brain that is like, wham. Right. And then fast forward like 20 years later, and I'm married to a wonderful Ann. I'm pastoring a little church in Durham.
And I'm starting to grow more and the Holy Spirit's really helping me with things. I had to start realizing why we have a conversation. And maybe Ann is bothered by something, you know, that I said or did. And the more, you know, I mean, marriage, right? It just been a marriage.
And yet I know that I'm feeling something disproportionate to the conversation. is disproportionate. I at least began to recognize this is disproportionate to that. Right. Because we're having a conversation And I'm not aware.
that it's reactivating an imprint. On something in my neurological system. that happened to me when I was 10 years old. This conversation doesn't mean that my wife's going to leave me or I'm going to leave her. It doesn't mean that.
We don't need to catastrophize a simple conversation when we're working through something. This began a process of growth for me that involved years of understanding the impact of shame. and impact of trauma. Because stuff that's in the rear view that's not happening now. Trying to mandate how we're going to think and feel now.
But this is then. This is now. That was then. And Jesus is inviting, to use the language of the Psalm, us into the land of the living. That's the thing I kept coming away from this.
David, at least twice in the Psalms, talks about the land of the living. I would have despaired. Except I believe that Your goodness will come to me in the land of the living. And in Psalm 142 that we've seen You're my portion in the land of the living. Then what are the things that's so painful about trauma.
Is that when our minds are processing again, you know, that mental tape recording that's rehashing a traumatic event? We're not in the land of the living. That's something that's in the past. And it's hard to figure out how God's grace applies to something that's not even happening. I think that's why worry itself is so problematic.
I heard somebody say this many years ago, God doesn't really give grace for hypothetical situations. But his mercy is new every morning.
So, what you're actually experiencing and going through, God's right there in the midst of that. I think all of hell would like for us to live in that which is not in the moment, right? And so David is like, you're my portion here now in the land of the living, in these days, in these moments. And God is inviting us into that.
So We bring our trauma. And our whole anxious self Into the presence of God, and unto Jesus, who said, You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. who called himself the The way and the truth and the life, because what you're doing is you're saying, Okay, here is who I am, and I'm bringing my whole honest story to you, but I'm bringing it in a kind of submission to you, Jesus, who has made an offer of your own untroubled heart to me. That you've made an offer of your peace that passes understanding, of a peace not as the world gives. You've made this offer.
So here I bring, like David did, my whole anxious self and all the trauma that's part of my story, but I bring it to you for you to set me free. And I think that part of what Jesus is offering here is indeed a miracle. You know, when Paul says the old is gone, the new is come. When Paul said I was dead, it's like I'm alive again. When we talk about being spiritually born anew, we're talking about something that's like a resurrection.
We're talking about when you placed your trust in Christ that. Jesus said to Nicodemus, it's like you're being born from above. It's like you're being born anew.
So, what is it that's new?
Well, our body's not new. One day it will be in heaven, and our mind is not totally new. We don't suddenly think about everything differently. That's a process. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
So, what's new? Spiritually, you're new. You are, as a Christian, you're a born-again spirit. And you are alive to God spiritually, and spirit communes with spirit, and spirit calls into spirit, and you're able to apprehend the deepest and most precious things from God because you are now a spiritual being. And so I wonder what's the heart.
And I can't prove this to you from the scripture, but I think that the heart, that inward command center, is in some mystical way. A kind of connecting point between your spirit and your soul, between Between that part of you that's a born-again spirit and can commune with God, and it's like, you know how it is sometimes, you ever get this, like, I'm in worship, and it's like, I'm just so close to everything seems perfectly clear to me, right? Because you're just, it's like something's opened up from heaven and your spirit receives. But your mind needs all this conveyed. You need to be thinking differently.
Your psyche needs to be trained. And maybe what the heart is, this inward command center that's getting to have a say-so in what we believe. And what we process and what we play in our mind over and over. Maybe this is what it is to have an untroubled heart. I was thinking about this this morning in our pre-service prayer time, and it just came to me.
I was like, you know, Jesus experienced trauma after trauma after trauma after trauma and was raised from the dead and spent 40 days. with his disciples not talking about his trauma. It wasn't because he was denying the pain that he'd suffered. It's just that his heart His body and his soul had been traumatized. But his heart was not.
He was able therefore to make a promise to us that he would Grant us his own peace. By the power of the Holy Spirit. I think David Does three things. He acknowledges his suffering, so he does not. repress, suppress.
downplay, overlook, pretend it's not there. In other words, David is willing for those things that are in the unconscious to be brought to conscious expression, and he refuses to be alone with the processing of his past pain. Refuse to be alone in the processing of your past pain. The wolf loves the lone sheep. And you do not need to be isolated.
Not with us, not with God. There are places you can trust. That's Alan Wright. and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Do you ever feel like your heart just can't rest?
Like no matter how much you try, peace always seems just out of reach?
So many of us wrestle with anxious what-ifs. leaving our hearts restless and unsettled. But Jesus offers us something the world cannot give. His own peace. the calm of his very heart.
This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Untroubled Heart, a powerful digital bundle including audio messages and a digital study guide. In this series, Pastor Alan unpacks Jesus' promise from John 14, 27. I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does.
So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid. With practical insight and biblical encouragement, You'll discover how to quiet anxious thoughts and rest in Christ's peace that endures. When you give today to support Allen Wright Ministries, we'll send you the Untroubled Heart digital bundle as our thanks. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-500. Five four four 4860. That's 877.
Five four four four four four four four four four four four four. 4860. Or come to our website. PastorAllen.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Alan Wright. And He not only acknowledges But he does ask God for deliverance. He asked God big. I'd like to ask God for big things today. Here's Here's my thought.
Honestly, a lot of this is just even still growing in me this very morning, but my faith building for this. If a traumatic Negative event. could affect the physiology of your neurological system. Could cause some damage to the wiring of your brain system. Why is it not also possible?
A beautiful experience. of radical love. Yes. Could not all the more. Rewire your brain.
for good. What if we ask God for that? Let's ask him for that. David acknowledged his suffering and the trauma. He asked God for big things.
It didn't stop. He didn't let his trauma cause him to stop asking God for that which is big. And David had a capacity To continue to envision a positive future. This is. There's something.
Something about trauma that can numb and try to rob us of our imagination. And yet David, by the grace of God, said the righteous will surround me. He began to rehearse a redeemed future. And I think that's a lot of what healing looks like. We're not pretending that everything's just fine and we're not fixing it ourselves.
But there is a way in which we are calling upon him. and envisioning. Andy Colber has written a book called Try Softer. I like that title. She got it because when she was in her academic counseling program, her.
supervisor was talking to her and noticing how she was trying so hard at everything. And finally, he said, I'm not asking to stop caring, Andy. Just change the way you're caring. What I mean is, what if just for a change, instead of trying harder, you tried softer? Like maybe instead of re reactivating your fight or flight responses.
Instead, you started thinking well, the pressure's off. And I'm going to still try, but it's going to be softer. more like letting wind come in my sails rather than rowing against the stream like that.
So, what we learned is that, and this goes so far to explain why Paul. was so adamant against all legalism, When you start feeling like I'm not good enough, and I need to try harder. to be better and then I might be able to overcome these past traumatic experiences. What actually is happening is you're putting more pressure on yourself that activates the very fight or flight or freeze mechanism that we're trying to get healed of. What Jesus said is.
I'll leave you peace. It's a gift. I'm bequeathing it to you. That's more like just receiving something. That's more like breathing in something.
It's more like Trying softer. And So Jesus Ox was this great piece. from a place of deep substance Because Jesus is the Son of David. It was promised that someone from the line of David would be on the throne forever, and a thousand years later, he came. Born also in Bethlehem where David kept the sheep in those hillsides.
Also who came? Like David, the Bible says he came into his own, but his own received him not. Like David. Was belittled and mocked. and persecuted.
even when he had only the best intentions in mind. And like David, He alone could stand up to the Goliath of Hell. And give up all.
So that in the end It wasn't merely an assassination attempt against him. But the son of David willingly submitted himself to the floggings. to the crown of thorns. To the nails in his wrists. And he died.
So, the writer of Hebrews could say, We do not have a great high priest who is unable to sympathize with us. He understands every trauma you could have ever experienced. And he loves you. And he emerged from the grave. in victory.
Thankfully, David's story doesn't have its pinnacle in all of his suffering, but in 2 Samuel 6, when finally, after all those years, he is coronated and he comes in Jerusalem, and David danced before the Lord with all his might. And he was wearing a linen ephid, and he danced, all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the horn. And Jesus emerged from the grave and he is victorious. I say if Old experiences that are in the rear view mirror could. Cause us to have a negative thought process that keeps going, how much more so if what we see in the rearview mirror is the grace and the goodness of God?
And by the miracle of His grace, the Holy Spirit can show you the love of God that displaces, that overwhelms, and begins to heal the trauma and changes you, literally changes your mind. This is the offer of Jesus. Peace. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright, today's good news message: healing post-trauma anxiety in our series, The Untroubled Heart.
I encourage you to stay with us as Pastor Alan is back here in the studio with us, sharing a parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing. It's free, and just a click away at pastoralen.org.
Do you ever feel like your heart just can't rest? Like no matter how much you try, peace always seems just out of reach.
So many of us wrestle with anxious what-ifs. leaving our hearts restless and unsettled. But Jesus offers us something the world cannot give. His own peace. The calm of his very heart.
This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is the Untroubled Heart, a powerful digital bundle including audio messages and a digital study guide. In this series, however, Pastor Alan unpacks Jesus' promise from John 14, 27. I leave you peace. My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does.
So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid. With practical insight and biblical encouragement, You'll discover how to quiet anxious thoughts and rest in Christ's peace that endures. When you give today to support Allen Wright Ministries, we'll send you the Untroubled Heart digital bundle as our thanks. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-500. Five four four. 4860.
That's eight seven seven. Five four four. The majority of the 1980s. or come to our website. PastorAllen.org.
Back here in the studio with Pastor Alan. At the conclusion of today's teaching, Healing post-trauma anxiety. Pastor Alan, it's so reassuring to know that he, Jesus, he really, really does understand. I thought of David when I was thinking about the healing of trauma because he went through so much. He was Really mistreated by his own family and then You know, attempts against his life.
I mean, it's one of the most traumatic things anybody could ever experience. And persecution and long periods of time of Dreams deferred. But eventually he came and he danced before the Lord and he was able to be resilient. And all of this is pointing to the real king, another king. born also in Bethlehem in the city of David.
who would be rejected by his brothers, misunderstood by people, hunted by authorities, subjected to trauma, And Jesus went to that cross to experience every kind of trauma. that any of us might. And he did so, So that He could forgive us.
so that we could know that we are accepted, so that he could offer us a great exchange. He who knew no sin became our sin, that we who had sinned so much would become His righteousness, and knowing ourselves, to now be the righteousness of Jesus through his grace. puts us into a kind of welcome into God's arms. that I think is the pathway to the healing of trauma. I'm praying for you, all of our listeners, that God will give you much grace, and that if these messages have helped.
open up that path that you'll continue to walk down and let God heal you. And the healing of trauma is also the healing of our fears. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
