It is impossible for me to pretend that this is not something I have asked myself. I am pretty sure you have asked these questions before, or you are asking them now. Where does God fit into all of this? If God exists, why does He allow terrible things to happen to good people? Do these questions sound familiar to you? Despite being Christians, we know there are things we do not fully understand! We know in part, and therefore we can prophesy in part according to the Bible. I will try to share my perspective as someone who survived a Genocide. I was placed in an orphanage after the genocide. While that seems like a lot already, I was rejected by those who were supposed to love me, and I had to make my own way in life. Can you relate to any of my life experiences? Now I am able to see God before, during, and after my trauma.
My Story
I was probably three or four years old at the time. We lived in an African hut. Have you ever seen one? As a child, I was shy and reserved. I usually played alone. I was playing on the backside of the hut one sunny afternoon. There was a papaya tree with two branches. However, it split half way up into a V. He sat in the tree with one leg bent, and the other straight. He wore white robes and brown sandals. I had never seen anyone like him before. His hair was shoulder-length and wavy. The look in his eyes was compassionate. He said nothing. After staring at him for a while, I decided to run and get my mom. I grabbed her hand and pointed at him. She screamed when she saw Him, and back then when you screamed, neighbors thought you were being attacked by wild animals, so they came with weapons. My mom showed them the stranger in the back of the house, but when they got there, he vanished. They were angry with her for wasting their time. The story of Paul explains how Jesus revealed Himself to people in the Bible.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Acts 9:3-4
So Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen to Innocent People?
I was so angry at God for a long time because I believed he had allowed all these horrible things to happen to me. After all, what did I do to deserve all this? When I grew up, I did a lot of things that harmed me, because of the trauma, yes, but also because of the anger that comes from trauma. Only when I had exhausted every option to fill the void did I turn back to God and express how angry I was with Him. I believe He understood my anger. There are many accounts in the Bible where God was angry, right? Knowing He can relate to me made it easier for me to turn to Him. After I began to get closer to God, I began to understand why bad things happen to good people.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
In the Beginning Sin Entered the World
We who believe in the Bible believe that in the beginning, in the book of Genesis, God created a paradise for the first man and woman to live in. According to God, everything was permitted to them, except for this Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. A fallen angel sinned and was expelled from Heaven. Known to most as the devil, satan, lucifer, and many other names. The angel deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God. When sin entered the world, it messed up paradise as Adam and Eve knew it and for generations to come.
Free Will
Once men had knowledge of good and evil, and they already had free will to choose, then it makes sense that people would choose to do good, and those who chose to do evil. Those of you with children will notice that they each have different personalities, one might be a risk taker, pushing boundaries, while another might be shy and reserved, so one may follow the rules. There are those who do good, and there are those who do evil, no matter their gender, race, religion, background, or demographic. Evil doers, unfortunately, inflict trauma that leads to more evil doers, injured humans, and so on. You do, however, have free will to change, to take another path, to heal, and to stop your children, and their children, from repeating the cycle.
God of Law and Principles
Although man disobeyed, God did not change. God is the same God that cast the devil out of Heaven then as He is today. Would He be a supreme being if He broke His own law? According to the Bible, death is the wages of sin. Adam and Eve were warned by God not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that they would surely die if they did. Even though it took almost a millennium before Adam and Eve died, death did come to them. There are also references in the Bible to God not being a man, that He should not lie, that the devil is the author of lies, and so on and so forth. In one way or another, mankind will pay for what it has done in this life. Since God sets the standards, we must conform to His supreme standards, not our own.
For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.
Isaiah 33:22
A Way Out
Based on that logic, there was not one righteous man worthy to bear the punishment we deserved. The Creator, God, took it upon Himself to save the creation that He warned in the garden. Even so, he still left us with a choice: to accept the free gift of Salvation, which by the way comes with perks, like healing from trauma, restoration in which you are made new, and an eternal, painless existence. What else can we ask for? Jesus gave us a way out. A way out of trauma, a way out of both physical and eternal death, a way out of life without meaning, a way out of anything that kills, steals, and destroys. Are you willing to accept this way out? It is unlikely that I would have found healing and relief from trauma without the assistance of God. Do you have to be a Christian for Him to intervene, no. According to the Bible, he causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Since God loves all His creation, He does not wish for anyone to perish, but for them to find eternal life, therefore He wants to have a personal relationship with Him!!
How to See God Before, During, and After Your Trauma
As I write this, I can already tell that this is not a popular topic, especially for someone who has suffered intensely. You suffered at the hands of others, and most likely there was nothing you could have done to stop the suffering. Maybe you were a child like I was, or maybe you were older and didn’t know what to do. Whatever the case may be, I assure you that there is a God who loves you. This is the same God who appeared to me as a child. When I look back now, I see that He knew what I was to suffer and wanted me to know that He was with me through it. Our God is a God who took on our humanity and suffered so that we wouldn’t have to. Our suffering is nothing compared to what He went through for us.
God[b] was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
Jesus Knows Suffering
I believe in Jesus because I have seen Him. I also believe that the Bible describes Him accurately. As I learned more about God, my questions began to change. The question shifted from Why would a God let all this suffering in my life to Why would a God die for me? What could He possibly gain by doing so? I found it increasingly difficult to comprehend the pain, and torture Jesus went through as I read the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the Bible. As soon as I started to imagine the pain and humiliation He suffered, I began to see Him understanding my situation. The moment that happened, I saw God as a friend, as a parent, as someone I could trust. Someone who loved me so much that He took on what I now understand as my punishment. As you can see, God is also a lot of things. He is a Judge who holds His own laws seriously, and nothing, no sacrifice, no works, nothing was good enough to take away the judgement we were to face. Therefore, He suffered on our behalf, so that we would not have to. Therefore, I am able to relate to Him because He also relates to me.
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:44
Take a Closer Look of Your Life.
It’s more difficult than you might think. When you are suffering from trauma, being grateful is nearly impossible. You are unlikely to write down every day what you are thankful for, even if you set a goal to do so. If you do, it will feel like a chore, not something you enjoy. Do you know why? It’s because you’re in pain. You know, pain can be tricky. When you get rid of this pain, you will start to see so many amazing things that life has to offer. All of a sudden feeling the sun kiss your chicks will be a thrilling experience. Even the smallest things will make you laugh. Even things you didn’t find valuable will start to be so important to you that you will want to get up in the morning to do them or see them. You will start to see that God has preserved you and kept you all these years so that you can fulfill your calling.
Can You See Him?
Today I challenge you to take a closer look at your life. You are alive and breathing if you are reading this far. Have you ever wondered whether there is something that you, only you, were made to do? Do you ever feel like you are just scratching the surface, but you haven’t reached your full potential? You have a purpose and a calling on your life, and I truly believe that you are reading this for a reason. Is there any evidence of divine intervention in your life? Was there ever a time when you could have died? What about when you got good news about a job or a diagnosis, or if you survived something awful and have no idea how or why? Answer this then, why are you still here? How did you make this far? Could God be with you now and guiding you to fulfill your calling? What if trauma stands between you and your calling? Ever wonder why Jesus spent most of His ministry time healing the sick?
How Many Resources Do You Have at Your disposal?
I once read that if you live in America with a roof over your head, food on the table, and clothes on your back, then you are wealthier than everyone else on Earth? I will have to look that up. Nevertheless, from my personal experience after moving to the United States I felt like a lot of resources opened up to me. Things were still not easy, but I had options. Looking at your life, what resources do you have to start healing from trauma? Perhaps you are a parodical son or daughter, and it’s time for you to return. Maybe you never heard of this Jesus or those who called themselves Christians are the ones who inflicted this trauma upon you. Whatever the case may be, I challenge you to challenge everything you believe. Believing that you can achieve more is your aim! You have a purpose and a calling in your life, and there is a God who loves you, who understands you, and who wants to help you, like He helped me (I will share the story of how He helped me in the upcoming blogs)?
Finally
There has to be cooperation between you and God. Unlike the devil, he will not force you into anything. Instead, he wants you to say yes to your own healing. To help, guide, and set you on the path He designed for you, He wants to be in a relationship with you. Will you accept the free gifts He has for you? Even if you don’t fully understand, how much more pain are you willing to endure? Don’t you think that the people you love deserve to see the best version of you? When you pay attention, you will see God before, during, and after your trauma. Saying yes to God makes all the difference. Say yes to you making the connections you need to heal. You can either go to church and ask for prayer or comment on this post so I can pray for and with you. You can also call professionals in your area for help. Resources are more readily available than ever before.
