How Does Trauma Affect Our Faith?

I recently went through a traumatic experience that has shaken my faith.

What should I do? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Edriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. And of course, you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Well, Edriel, it is week two of Core Christianity Live. It was so much fun last week taking our listeners' calls live for the very first time, and I know it was a little bit anxiety-provoking as well. Yeah, I thought I was going to be even more nervous than I was, and so I was really praising the Lord because I really enjoyed myself, Bill. I don't know about you, but it was really great to be able to take those questions and continue to take live questions today, you know, just going back and forth with our listeners. And I was also just so encouraged by the caliber of questions that we're receiving. I mean, a lot of people are really thinking deeply about the Word of God and the Christian life and wanting to grow in their faith, and so we want to encourage them in that and point them to the scriptures and a right understanding of God's Word.

One of our goals here at Core Christianity is to give you confidence in your Christian walk and to be able to fully understand the gospel and apply it to your life, and then to share it with others, because we know in today's world there's a lot of people who, unfortunately, are a little bit hostile to Christianity, so how can we winsomely talk about our faith with them? That's another thing we try to do on this program. Let's get to our first question of the day. This is Jennifer, who's calling in from Phoenix, Arizona. Jennifer, welcome to Core Christianity. Thank you, guys.

I've been enjoying the program. You hear a lot of Christians talk about deciphering God's will for their lives, and so my question pertains to, are there certain scripture passages you can point me to that helps us, that speaks to that issue of finding God's will for our lives? Yeah, Jennifer, a really important question. One passage that oftentimes we go to is a verse in Deuteronomy chapter 29. A lot of people don't think, Deuteronomy for the will of God? But listen to what Deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29 says, "'The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.'" And so there you have this distinction that's often been made between God's secret will, what he's decreed from eternity past, what God knows, and we don't know. The curtain hasn't been pulled back for us to see that, and then God's revealed will, what we do have for us and for our children, and really that's summarized in God's revealed will for us in his law. And so first and foremost we would say God's law to us is the revelation of his will for his people. He's revealed that so that we might know how to live, how to walk with him, how to honor him. I think that a lot of times today when people think about the will of God, finding God's will for my life, they're thinking about something really specific.

Does God want me to take this job or that job, or does God want me to marry this person or that person? And you don't find answers to that question in particular, those kinds of questions in the Word of God. What we get in scripture is wisdom, principles, God's law, things that we're called to live by. And sometimes the answer may not be very clear in terms of should I take this job or that job, and that's where we have to use wisdom, the wisdom that God gives us as we study the scriptures and as we understand them better. There are some passages of scripture where Paul, for example, talks specifically about things that are the will of God for us. So for example, in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he talks about how it's God's will for us to give thanks in all circumstances. And so we can say that that certainly is the will of God for our lives. Or also in chapter 4 verse 13 of 1 Thessalonians, he talked about how the will of God for us is our sanctification that we should abstain from sexual immorality. And there he's just appealing again to what God has revealed in His Word, in His law. And so I would say, when we think about this question of the will of God for my life today, we want to say, look, we want to approach all of the Bible, what God has revealed to us, for us, for our children, for our friends, and for our family, and say, how does God call me to live and to use wisdom in order to understand what that looks like in particular circumstances? And so that's how I would approach this question of wisdom. Were you looking for something, Jennifer, maybe more specifically there in terms of finding God's will for your life?

No, not real specific. But these passages you pointed me to are really helpful. I greatly appreciate it. Thanks. Hey, thank you for your call. God bless you. Thanks, Jennifer.

Thank you. Appreciate you being one of our core Christianity listeners. You know, Adriel, a lot of times we do struggle with the fact that God has given us free will. And we also know that He is sovereign over our lives and how those two things fit together. When we you mentioned, like, how do you choose between two jobs or between, you know, two dating partners?

I mean, those questions come up a lot for people. It sounds like what you're saying is that our goal, God's will for us, God's desire for us is to follow His precepts, to obey Him. And then He gives us free will when it comes to a lot of other things. Well, just one concern that I have is I think a lot of times when we ask this question about finding the will of God for my life, we're looking for some sort of sign in the sky. You know, God, you know, tell me to go this way or that way. And it really isn't a matter of sin. You know, it's not a question of this is the right decision and that's the wrong decision.

It's just we want this specific answer to a particular roadblock or particular question that we have. And what God has given us is His Word. I mean, He's revealed how He calls us to live. And that's what we should commit ourselves to is understanding that, understanding the Word of God. And that's going to guide us to make decisions with wisdom, biblical wisdom, that are honoring to the Lord and that ultimately help us to live our lives in line with God's revealed will. And so that's what we want to do and what we want to be committed to. Are there instances in our lives maybe where God might providentially lead us in one direction or another?

Sure, God can totally do that. But I think first and foremost, we need to understand what God has revealed in His Word in terms of how we should live and then seek to follow it as Christians. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question for us, we'd love to talk to you right now live. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Diana in Orange, California. Hi, Diana. Welcome to Core Christianity.

Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm somewhat new to the faith. And in Deuteronomy 32, 51, 52, you know, Moses is told he's not going to see the promised land, but I'm under the impression that God is not vengeful. Can you help me understand that a little bit better?

Yeah. Well, one, I praise the Lord that you are new to the faith. I just, boy, hope that you are going to continue to grow, trust that you'll continue to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And I hope that we can be an encouragement to you on your journey. So Deuteronomy 32, beginning in verse 51, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Maribah, Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel, for you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel. And so here's basically Moses hearing the consequences for his sin, what he had done in misrepresenting the Lord. And in particular, Diane, I mean, Moses, as the teacher in Israel, he's held to a higher account here in particular.

I mean, what he had done, he had set a bad example for the people. And so God is... There is punishment here. And that's one thing that we really have to understand as Christians is there are consequences for our sins.

I used to know a professor would say, you could choose your sin, but you can't choose your consequences. And I think that that's one of the things that we're seeing there in Deuteronomy 32. It's not that God is being harsh per se, it's just that there are very real and serious consequences to our behavior as Christians. I mean, the apostle Paul said it, you reap what you sow, and that's essentially what's happening here. Now, in terms of God being a vengeful God, I think one passage that I would point you to is what the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 12. Because in one sense, we could talk about the vengeance or just wrath of God in the context of, again, his judgment against sin. And so listen to what the apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 12. And this is beginning in verse 17. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all beloved. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And so there, I would say, Diana, we're talking about the vengeance of God in the context of his judgment against sin. And sometimes we also have to understand in scripture when we're getting this language of God being vengeful or wrathful, it's God's way of accommodating himself to our understanding.

It's this sort of analogy. We wouldn't say that God is in his essence wrath or vengeance or something like that, that he flies off the handle, that kind of a thing. And I think sometimes that's the picture that people get in their mind when they think about talking about the God of wrath or God's wrath.

No, it's God's way of communicating to us, particularly, that he has this just response, this righteous response to our sin. And that's what we see with Moses. But another thing that I would say to you, Diana, is God also exhibits his grace to us and to Moses in particular.

So there, he's told, you're not going to be able to go into the promised land. But one of the things that I love is when you go to the New Testament, there's this scene in the gospels, Matthew chapter 17, for example, where Jesus is on this mountain and he's transfigured. We're told that he begins to just shine with this divine glory and the disciples are there with him. And they have a vision of two people with Jesus there on the Mount of Transfiguration. I don't know if you're familiar with this story, but the two people that appear with Jesus are Elijah and Moses. Moses there in the promised land, we might say, standing next to Jesus. It's a picture of the law and the prophets pointing to Jesus, testifying of Jesus. So even though there are consequences to Moses's sin, and those consequences are spelled out there in Deuteronomy 32, there's also grace, the grace that Jesus has for Moses.

And Moses is there on the Mount of Transfiguration with him in the promised land many years later, we might say. So, Diana, thank you so much for your question and keep digging into the word. Hey, Diana, thanks for calling in. Thank you for the perspective. We appreciate the fact that you are exploring God's word on a regular basis.

That is so exciting. And we do encourage you to continue to solidify your walk with God. So thank you so much. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And if you are new to this program, we have something just for you. It is called our Core Kit.

Yeah, I'm very excited about this, Bill. The Core Kit is our offer to listeners who are wondering what Core Christianity is all about. It's a free resource, jam-packed with items like our DVD, Finding Yourself in God's Story, answers to the top three questions we get asked on the show, a printed copy of our most-read articles at corechristianity.com, our Bible reading plan, and even more. And so the Core Kit is just that, a kit that introduces you to the best content and the items we have over at Core Christianity. We've heard a lot of testimonials about how these resources have helped people encourage them in their faith.

And so we wanted to collect them all in one place and give them to you for free. It's really a great way to get to know who we are and what our mission is here at Core Christianity. To receive your Core Kit, all you have to do is go to corechristianity.com forward slash kit and sign up. That's corechristianity.com forward slash kit. You can also call us at 833-843-2673 for help getting any one of our offers.

That number again is 833-THE-CORE. Well, one of the ways you can ask a question here at Core Christianity is by leaving us a voicemail or going to our website and clicking the little microphone icon there and recording your question. Let's go to a recorded question right now. I'm a believer and I pretended my life back to the Lord four years ago. Recently, I went through a lot of traumatic experiences. I went through some life and death experience of being attacked and I felt like I was being persecuted for my belief. And I go through that all the time and I live with people that aren't really believers, just worldly people. But my question is, is God trying to tell me to leave that behind me, that it's all in his hands?

Or what do I do from now on? They were really traumatic experiences and I don't know where, how to get my joy back, my faith back or anything else. I read my Bible.

I can't find faith in them. I don't know what to do about these situations. Thank you. Yeah, sister. Well, it sounds like you've been through quite a bit. The first thing I would want to say, sometimes on this program, we differentiate between sinning and being sinned against. We can really be sinned against as people and as the people of God. It sounds there in your question like there are certain things that have happened to you that you've experienced that were the direct result of your wanting to follow Jesus and to be faithful to him. And so when we're sinned against, whether it's for our faith in Jesus Christ or for some other reason, it truly can be traumatic and leave these deep wounds that require healing. Now, of course, as a follower of Jesus, that's almost something that we won't be able to escape as we're following the Lord faithfully. The apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter three, I believe it's verse 12, that everyone who desires to live a godly life in Jesus Christ is going to suffer persecution.

And so, look, if we're followers of Jesus, seeking to be faithful to him and to his word, don't be surprised, Jesus said, when the world hates you. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't deal with the traumatic experiences that we've had. And I think maybe processing through that stuff, I mean, it's really important for us if we're in situations or if you're in a situation where you're continuing to be in an abusive relationship or something like that. In context like that, I think I would say, and probably Bill, you would say as well as a counselor, that it is good to remove yourself as much as is possible from that kind of situation, right? Without a doubt. Yeah.

And it's not just like, you know, just try to forget about it and it's not that big of a deal. No, we have to work through the pain that's been caused to us. Now, one thing I will say in terms of the traumatic things that we experience as the people of God is don't let the traumas that you experience cause you to question the love of God for you, sister. When I was just hearing your question, my mind immediately went to Romans 8, beginning in verse 36, Paul says, as it is written for your sake, that is because I'm a follower of the Lord.

For your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Knowing all these things, Paul says, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, a lot of times when we experience trauma, abuse, even, we can begin to question the love of God for us. We can begin to feel like we are unlovely.

And that's where we go to Christ in his word, where we're reminded of his Gospel, where we rest in his grace. And so I would want to just encourage you by saying, don't let these experiences cause you to question the love of God for you. And, Bill, in terms of experiencing trauma, I just want to pitch this to you also for a moment. As a counselor, what are some of the recommendations that you might have?

Well, one of the first things you want to do, of course, is, as you said, be comfortable, be free in talking about and expressing your feelings. And sometimes that can be to a counselor, it could be to a pastor, it could be to a small group. The more we can express what we felt, what we went through, and how it made us feel, the easier it is going to be for us to process that trauma.

If we just bottle it up inside, it's going to come out in different ways. It's going to come out in anxiety, depression, sometimes post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares. I don't know exactly what she went through, but it sounds like it was very traumatic.

So I would say find a trusted person, find a safe person that you can talk to about these experiences. And it also sounds like she's currently, she said, I'm living with people who don't share my faith and who are hostile to it. I think your advice there was really sound, Adriel. She needs to, if at all possible, remove herself from that situation and find a more positive living environment. I realize that that might be a challenge, but I think that's the goal that she should really be shooting for.

Thank you for that, Bill. Maybe we can just really quickly pray for this sister. We didn't get her name, but let's lift her up to the Lord in prayer. Gracious Father, we do ask for your healing hand and your hand of protection to be on our dear sister. And Lord, would you bring healing with the trauma that she's experienced? And would you comfort her with your word, with the gospel, with the promise that there is nothing in this world that can separate her from your love that is found in Jesus Christ? May she rest in that message, Lord.

And would you please surround her with godly and good influences who are going to be able to encourage her and build her up in her faith? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. We don't play commercials. We don't receive money from the government. We pretty much do it because of your gift.

So if you feel like you could make a gift to Core Christianity, just go to our website, corechristianity.com, and learn more about that. We would really appreciate it. Let's go to another call. This is Tommaso from St. Louis. Hi, Tommaso. How are you? Hi, I'm doing well. How are you guys? We're doing well. Good to hear from you.

What's your question? So I was recently having a conversation with one of my family members who is not a Christian, and I'm just going to be a little bit of a back story here, but over the summer I got really, really into doing apologetics and kind of amounting a defense of the faith so I could have these conversations and have an answer ready. And she asked a question. We ended up talking about Old Testament prophets and stuff, and she was asking, why did Israel believe the Old Testament prophets, right? And so I told her about how the standard for being a prophet is very strict, which is that you're never wrong, because if it's coming from God, then it's always going to come to pass. And I understand that in retrospect you can look at psalms and stuff and see all of the prophecies that came true, but for the prophets, like the minor prophets, like Micah or Obadiah, why did Israel follow them and believe that they were speaking on behalf of God?

Yeah, that's a great question. The sad reality is so often in Israel's history she didn't follow the prophets, right? I mean, even though they were sent by the Lord, many of the prophets were rejected. Jesus talks about this, Jeremiah, over and over again.

He's referred to as the weeping prophet, not because he had the most successful prophetic ministry, but because continually the people of God, the church of that day, they were persecuting him. Now God, when he reveals himself through the prophets, he makes it very clear that one of the ways we're going to know that he's truly speaking is through their prophetic testimony, you know, declaring things that take place before they happen. Isaiah 46, verses 9 and 10, God says, I am God and there is none other. I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I love that verse because God is saying, look, I'm the true God and here's how you can know, right?

I'm going to tell you what happens before it does. And so we have this vivid prophetic testimony throughout the pages of the Bible. That's one of the reasons why the people of Israel were called to believe the prophets, why we're called to believe the prophets as well. The other thing is just the efficacy, we might say, of the prophetic word. These prophets had stood in the very counsel of God. It was as if God had raised them up into his presence to receive a message from the Lord, a word from the Lord that they were called to deliver to the people.

And that word had a very powerful effect. I think about what the prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 29. This is actually God speaking through Jeremiah and he says, is not my word like fire declares the Lord and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. That's what the word of God does for us. That's what the word of God that the prophets brought to the people of Israel did for them.

It was like this fire that consumed, like this hammer that breaks the hard rocks. And so those are reasons why they were called to believe the prophets. The prophets stood in the counsel of the Lord. They had received this word, this message from God, this authoritative proclamation. And so they were meant to embrace it. But the sad reality was over and over again, as I mentioned at the outset of my answer, Israel rejected the voice of the prophets.

And so what happened? God sent his very own son, Jesus, the ultimate prophet, priest and king. And he's depicted as the one who truly reveals to us by his word and spirit, the will of God for our salvation. He was prophesied by the prophets long before in the Old Testament. And then he came for us and for our salvation to forgive our sins. Encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.