I want to draw your attention to a recent article in the Sovereign Grace Journal (the one in your gift bags!), called “Trauma and the Treasure of Christ” by Andy Farmer. Andy is a friend, an incredibly wise pastor and biblical counsellor. This article deals with a very serious and sad topic, trauma. And gives us tools for how to process it personally and to help others process it, through the trauma of the cross.

You can read it here.

“Can I let you in on a little secret? There are people in your church who are struggling with trauma. Maybe you can’t see it as you gather together on a Sunday or in a small group—or these days through Zoom. But there are people all around you who have experienced something so horrific, so painful, so shameful, that it crowds into their present life, no matter how long ago it happened.

Trauma reaches out of the past and grips them with all the emotion, dread, and adrenaline-charging panic they faced when that horrible event first happened. It can feel like it is happening over and over and over. Maybe their trauma traces back to an experience of abuse or assault, maybe from a devastating event in their lives, or a violent or tragic event experienced while serving in the military or as a first responder. Whatever the original event, they may manage life despite it, but it never leaves them. They live with an unrelenting sense that they can run from it, but they can’t hide from it.

Maybe that person you know is you.”