How To Push Past Your Trauma - Episode 22

"This generation, which has suffered fully as much if not more heartache than people in preceding eras, needs to re-learn that which the wisest people of all time have known, namely, that there is no healing of the pain suffered by humanity except through the benign ministrations of faith."
- Norman Vincent Peale

In this episode, hosts Justin Olbrantz and Don Schaefer discuss a difficult yet essential topic—how to push past trauma. This conversation follows their previous discussion on overcoming depression. The hosts delve into the nature of trauma, its impact on different ages and situations, and how it can affect the progress in our lives. They discuss the importance of changing perspectives, understanding trauma as a tool for growth, and the role of faith and self-forgiveness in healing. 

Utilizing their own personal stories and wise analogies, Justin and Don emphasize the need for self-reflection, setting boundaries, and trusting in God to recover from and move beyond traumatic experiences.

Transcript

Episode 22 - How To Push Past Your Trauma

[00:00:00] Justin: Hi everyone, this is Justin Olbrantz and this is Don Schaefer and you are listening to the wise and the wandering podcast For those who know the way And for those who are led astray And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories Then you're in the right place So let's dive in

[00:00:31] Justin: So don what are we going to talk about today? 

[00:00:34] Don: I think this week we're going to talk about how to push past your trauma Justin Wow, 

[00:00:38] Justin: that sounds like a tough one. How to push past your trauma. Yes. Yeah, that is going to be the topic today. Um, and I think , I alluded to this last week that it's kind of a part two to our last topic, which was how to get out of depression.

[00:00:56] Justin: Well, not how to, um, like we're doing [00:01:00] DIY self help topics here, but yeah, it was to getting out of depression. So This is a part of that, right? That's right. Because sometimes people are depressed because they've been through traumatic events. Oh yeah. They haven't healed. Oh yeah, 

[00:01:14] Don: yeah.

[00:01:14] Don: There's a lot of people that struggle with that. Yeah. Because, , you know, trauma sometimes leads into full blown depression. Yeah. And, , it is an issue in people's lives. And it's something that we need sometimes to understand because You know, what's a lot of times, uh, military guys come back with a PTSD's, which is post traumatic stress disorder because of the situations they're in.

[00:01:36] Don: But we fail to realize that a lot of times, you know, even having a situation happen in your home, you know, for a child, they can be in trauma, traumatized. I mean, anybody can be traumatized by the situations that go on around them. 

[00:01:49] Justin: Yeah. 

[00:01:49] Don: Yeah. You 

[00:01:50] Justin: can really be traumatized at any age. You can. Right? Right.

[00:01:55] Justin: And it affects people differently. And it's, it's one of those [00:02:00] things where the goal, the objective of this podcast is not to say that you're just going to completely forget it. Right. Not that you're just going to completely. Lose it or it's you know, it's no longer going to affect you but that you're going to push past it 

[00:02:19] Don: Yeah, that's right.

[00:02:20] Don: It's just like we talked about with depression. It's a way of thinking, you know, it's it's how you Handle the situation that's happening to you and we always go back to children because it's easy to talk about that But you know, you help your child in traumatic situations when they go through the situation You're helping them You help them through it and give them an understanding, so it isn't something that completely overwhelms.

[00:02:43] Don: Because what happens when a person is traumatized, it affects their emotions. And their emotions control so much of life with them. Physically, spiritually, emotionally, all this stuff here is affecting them. Yeah. By the way we handle and understand the situations happening to [00:03:00]us, but what we need to understand, which I'm hoping that we can do in this, Justin, is the fact that, uh, being traumatized is a tool.

[00:03:09] both: Yeah. It, 

[00:03:10] Don: it is a process. It's something that everybody goes through in, in their life. certain circumstances. For some people, it's losing their cat. You know, I mean, it traumatizes them. For other people, it's a car accident, but it can be, or a death in the family. You know, it can be a lot of different things, but, you know, to understand what it is and be able to realize how it could be used, 

[00:03:32] both: you know, 

[00:03:33] Don: and to get the right Through all this and you become a better person and that's where a lot of times people are so sheltered So protected from anything in life They grow up and all of a sudden the first little thing that happens in their life.

[00:03:47] Don: They're completely traumatized 

[00:03:49] both: Yeah, 

[00:03:49] Don: you know because I remember being young if I could quick, um, sure, you know, I remember little things It used to be the end of the world, but now when you get older, you went through those things [00:04:00] and you realize it's not the end of the world. Yeah, you 

[00:04:01] Justin: can almost laugh at them.

[00:04:02] Justin: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:04:03] Don: If something leaks in your house, you call a plumber. 

[00:04:05] Justin: Yeah. 

[00:04:05] Don: You know, you don't sit there and fret over 

[00:04:07] Justin: this all night long. Right. Yeah, we have different, , coping mechanisms and I would say our, , our resources strengthen as we get older. Um, we learn on, especially when we deal with trauma. 

[00:04:22] Justin: , it's not the same way for everybody. Different things happen to people differently. I would say that there are so many ways that Somebody can develop trauma in their life. And I think oftentimes we only look at the severe things and We don't uh,, we don't acknowledge the the smaller things I would say that still play an important role in Creating trauma in someone's life and by doing that it's when someone is not fully acknowledged Um, it's harder for them to heal from that because they don't [00:05:00] feel You like they're worthy of the healing.

[00:05:02] Justin: They don't feel like they're worthy of getting something better. They don't feel like they deserve something better. They don't feel like they deserve to be, , they don't feel like they deserve to be healed. And when I say that, I mean that because a lot of the times then that same cycle repeats itself.

[00:05:21] Justin: And these people might find themselves with a similar partner who abuses them because they were abused in the past and now they don't feel. That they deserve love. They don't feel worthy of the love Because no one ever took the time to really help them deconstruct their trauma 

[00:05:40] Don: That's right. And that's where sometimes we have to change the picture that's going on in their mind You know like you're talking about being familiar with the circumstances a lot of times you invite trauma in and that's where I know , i'm hoping to explain this well, but you see a lot of times you prepare yourself for trauma 

[00:05:55] both: Yeah.

[00:05:56] Don: You know, uh, a lot of times in life, you think, how am I [00:06:00] going to handle situations? And I know, you know, when things happen, you know, it's traumatizing. I remember my first car accident. You know, every time I got behind the wheel, I was, you know, there was a little bit of trauma working on me. You know, every time I, in certain circumstances, I was afraid to do this.

[00:06:16] Don: I was afraid to do that because of what happened there. But you know, you sit there and you get yourself in a position where. You look at severe loss or different losses in your life and you try to get yourself mentally prepared You know because you can't avoid this stuff, you know trauma enters in a lot of different areas And for some people it completely ruins them You know, they they fall into all kinds of issues and stuff and it's usually how they perceive that And I know through the years, you know, i've i've talked with people in different situations And a lot of them, you know, we're pretty serious You know trauma going on, you know a loved one that's I remember one time talking to a lady that lost her 16 year old daughter.

[00:06:58] Don: She died in her sleep and they said some [00:07:00] medication and a heart problem. You know, and I went over there, my wife and I went over there and we talked with her. You know, and your heart just pounds, you know, it just breaks over the situation. But you talk to her and what you do is you try to explain the situation.

[00:07:15] Don: Because people have to recover. They have to recover. And I know we've mentioned this in depression a little bit. A lot of these things here, you either get better or you get bitter. 

[00:07:24] both: And, 

[00:07:24] Don: uh, you know, if you can look at trying to recover and, and allow yourself and realize that, you know, Nothing lasts forever pain, whatever the circumstances it doesn't last forever You will get better but if you start to get bitter on at the situation and start to blame maybe god or whatever or angry of The people around the situation and stuff, you know, you you can really get yourself in a rut and that's where We're hoping and what we're discussing here is to get you in a place where you can understand that trauma is always going to be [00:08:00] there, but you know, that's where maturity helps, you know, as you grow up, as you grow through this, you know, little things that happen when you're young, it's, it's traumatizing.

[00:08:09] Don: Somebody says something bad to you on the playground or whatever, you know, it's traumatizing, but you know, you learn as time goes on, you know, I will not allow this to hurt me no more. And you get beyond all that. And that's where, like you're saying, Justin. Sometimes you get so familiar with trauma, you almost invite it in because it's something that's coming at you.

[00:08:28] Justin: Well, you know, just like the last episode where we talked about depression, I think there is a spiritual element to trauma as well. There is a harassing, Spirit, uh, element. There's a tormenting, , spirit element that once you, I guess, identify with that, once you, once you, you know, come into agreement and you latch that onto yourself, it does manifest itself in different ways.

[00:08:55] Justin: That's what I was saying before about the cycles, right? Where you [00:09:00]repeat the same cycles because you keep falling into the same perpetual suffering from the trauma. And I guess, In order to fully be healed, , some things need to be left behind. Right. Have you heard of, , um,, are you familiar with like pruning a tree?

[00:09:19] Justin: I think that's what it is, like pruning a tree, right? Yeah, yeah. So when it has like, it's dead branches. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta trim off the dead branches, cut off the dead branches. Right. And then there's certain things you do, certain things that you apply to the wounds of the tree. 

[00:09:35] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:09:35] Justin: To keep the beetles away, to make sure that it continues to grow.

[00:09:39] Justin: Yeah. It continues to heal those wounds. That's right. In a way, that's kind of what needs to be done to push past your trauma. The things that are dead, the things that are there that are just keeping you stuck, that are keeping you back from growing, that are keeping you back from getting to your potential, they gotta be cut off, they gotta be pruned.

[00:09:59] Justin: [00:10:00] And I just want to say, , you mentioned, bitterness, and the opposite of bitterness, we've talked about this, is forgiveness. And I think part of that pruning process is really learning to forgive yourself. This is true. And the final point I'll make, just on this part, there's one point I want to make.

[00:10:19] Justin: I read a book, um, I don't think it's, necessarily a Christian book. But it's called the Four Agreements, 

[00:10:26] both2: right? 

[00:10:27] Justin: So just walk with me here. And in this book, one of the agreements was that you have to forgive yourself, I believe. 

[00:10:35] talking together: But 

[00:10:35] Justin: it talked about, in an interesting way, it talked about trauma and past experiences, but it talked about fully forgiving yourself.

[00:10:45] Justin: And the reason you do that is because You are the only person that's affecting. 

[00:10:52] both2: You 

[00:10:52] Justin: are the only person that it's still, you know, keeping up late at night. You're the only person who's crying out. You're the only [00:11:00] person who has this horrible drug addiction. You're the only person who is just consumed with alcohol.

[00:11:07] Justin: You're the only person, so In the book, it laid it out nicely, probably better than I'm doing, but it talked about being fully accountable. And when you take full accountability, and that doesn't mean that you blame yourself, right? Cause you don't want to blame yourself for these situations. They just happened.

[00:11:25] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:11:26] Justin: They just happened to have happened. Right. That happened to you. There was a happening and you were part of it. And now you're the only person that it seemingly affects. 

[00:11:35] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:11:35] Justin: So by. Taking accountability for it. 

[00:11:39] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:11:39] Justin: That's a hard thing to maybe say to somebody, but it's a, it's a good perspective change.

[00:11:44] Justin: Once you can take accountability for it and realize the only person , uh, that this is affecting is me now. I'm the one left with these dead branches, right? I'm not going anywhere. I'm not growing the way I want to grow. Once you can take that accountability, you can then forgive [00:12:00] yourself for ever being in that situation.

[00:12:03] Justin: And once you forgive yourself. You can allow God to step into your life, and he's just gonna work wonders. 

[00:12:10] Don: Oh, yeah, that's for sure. I like what your analogy is there, because I know every one of us was designed to bear fruit. 

[00:12:16] both: Yeah. 

[00:12:17] Don: You know, and like your analogy with the tree, see a lot of times trauma does just what you're saying.

[00:12:21] Don: You know, it deadens some of your branches, and you need to get rid of that. And for the fruit tree to bear what it's meant to be and your life is meant to be beautiful And sometimes trauma, you know is like you're saying there justin it needs to be cut away and dealt with and gone away And a lot of times we hang on to this onto these dead branches and the fruit our lives are not fruitful We're not excited about life But I know we're, uh, 

[00:12:45] Justin: we're delaying our healing.

[00:12:47] Don: Yeah. 

[00:12:47] Justin: Yeah. 

[00:12:47] Don: And another thing I wanted to mention in all this, Justin, it was the fact that sometimes we are the traumatizers, 

[00:12:54] both: you know, 

[00:12:54] Don: and, uh, we have to be careful that too, because there was a story once that I heard of a, a [00:13:00] young girl, she was three years old and she, she was missing. You know, she was all playing in the back and all of a sudden she was missing.

[00:13:07] Don: Seems 

[00:13:07] Justin: to be a lot of that stuff going on. Yeah, yeah, 

[00:13:10] Don: and the lady and the mother got just terrified, just terrified. She got, went to all the neighbors. Everybody was in the whole neighborhood. Everybody's all looking for this girl. Yeah. And this was like a couple hours. They look for this girl. They were thinking that she was abducted and they didn't know what happened.

[00:13:25] Don: Well, the girl, what she had done is, Crawled into the dog coop and she fell asleep with the dog, you know, so she gets out of the dog coop, wakes up, gets out of the dog coop and she starts walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden her mother sees her and starts screaming, here you are. We thought that you were abducted.

[00:13:43] Don: We thought that you fell in some place and all this stuff. She said that to her child and a range 

[00:13:48] Justin: of emotions. Oh yeah. 

[00:13:50] Don: Yeah. But she didn't realize she was traumatizing that child, you know, that night that child was crying in her bed And she realized what she did [00:14:00] the child didn't have nothing to do with any of this here But because of what she said all of a sudden there was fears There was all this stuff going on so they had to sit with the child and explain that everything was bad Perfectly okay, you know what they said it never happened in that they would take care of her and protect her so that she could Peacefully fall asleep, but a lot of times in life we get ourselves into situations like that where we become a traumatizer We have to be careful sometimes how we handle people and deal with people because we can cause some nasty stuff You know in a lot of times we don't even realize especially as parents as parents We got to treat our children.

[00:14:38] Don: That's right Yeah, and there's a lot of, you know, because there are so many people out there right now that are dealing with traumatization, you know They've been traumatized and a lot of the effects, you know Even getting into alcohol getting into drugs or whatever it might be. It's just trying to cover up the pain Of the trauma that they're dealing with, you know, and that's where like you're saying, you know, [00:15:00] god has his place for this 

[00:15:01] Justin: Yeah, he has his place in helping with this.

[00:15:03] Justin: He does and just like, you know, when I buy a fruit tree You I wanted to bear fruit. Right? Just like I want that. 

[00:15:10] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:15:11] Justin: God wants that for you. 

[00:15:12] Don: Mm hmm 

[00:15:13] Justin: He wants you to bear fruit. That is right. He wants you to be healed. 

[00:15:16] Don: Yes, 

[00:15:17] Justin: He's going to help you. He's going to heal you if you go to him.

[00:15:21] Justin: He's going to help you. He's going to heal you Yeah, so in order to understand these things , you got to have the belief, you got to come into a full agreement that you want to be healed. 

[00:15:33] both2: Yes, 

[00:15:34] Justin: you got to acknowledge certain things that cause trauma. And like you're saying, you just gave me a whole, a whole nother thing to, a whole different world to think about in terms of parenting.

[00:15:44] Justin: Because yeah, that's, uh, that's a whole nother topic when it comes to traumatizing people. But in terms of pushing past our own traumas, There's things that we need to recover from. Yes. Talking [00:16:00] about the pruning of the tree. Maybe there's boundaries that need to be set in people in your life, places in your life, things in your life.

[00:16:07] Justin: You talked about drugs and alcohol. Uh, that's something that I can directly relate with in the past. And I think that what we do is like you were saying, it gives you that temporary relief. What we do is we kind of anchor Our souls in the time of depression, in the time of trauma, remembrance, reflecting on the same things over again, we anchor ourselves to that, , to a medication of some sort, whether it's food, Alcohol, drugs, they're something that we anchor ourselves to.

[00:16:44] Justin: And as long as you do that, like you're saying, you're not going to fully recover from it. It's going to be a going to be a temporary relief. And 

[00:16:52] Don: it's, 

[00:16:53] Justin: it's easier to do that because it's easier to run away from it. It's easier to, to avoid it. But [00:17:00] again, going back to the whole spiritual element of it, that's kind of where the enemy adversary, he, he wants you to go through that same cycle.

[00:17:08] Justin: And respond predictably, because then you respond in the same way each time. Every time that's thrown at you, you can put that thought in your head and it triggers that. You go back to that anchor. So I would propose today that you let God be your anchor. 

[00:17:26] Don: Amen to that. 

[00:17:27] Justin: That's right, because you don't need drugs.

[00:17:30] Justin: That's right. Jesus. 

[00:17:30] Don: Or drugs . 

[00:17:32] Justin: Exactly. Yeah. 

[00:17:33] Don: Either or. Either or. Yeah. Yeah. You are so right with that, Justin. You know, and that's where , it leads me to think that, um, God created us to be traumatized. You know, he gave he, he made it so that we could be traumatized. So I say to myself, what, what's going on with this?

[00:17:50] Don: You know? But you have to look at it. You know, a lot of times what happens with this trauma and these things we go through, we become the better person. I know, uh, and [00:18:00]that's hard, you know, it's hard to even receive a message like that. But, you know, you get into the Bible and it's full of traumatic situations.

[00:18:07] Don: Jesus himself, you know, you look at what, He went through it, unbelievable, 

[00:18:11] both: you know, 

[00:18:12] Don: and, and that's where it always gets me in the Bible, where it says they counted it all joy when they fell fall into certain situations, trials and tribulations, you know, and, and even there's a part in the Bible where it says that they, , were happy that they could, uh, Suffer for the name or go, you know, whatever the circumstance might 

[00:18:31] Justin: be Paul basically said no That was his proof of being an apostle as the stripes on his 

[00:18:36] Don: stripes and the things that he suffered, you know So they counted it joy.

[00:18:40] Don: So I look at this and I say, you know, there must be a process of bettering you Going through stuff and if we can look at it, you know If you can look at the situation and make it seem different than what you probably are seeing it I know um, I read a story Well, [00:19:00] actually it turned it into movie and the movie was called life is beautiful and was back in 1997 

[00:19:05] both: okay, 

[00:19:05] Don: and it was about a librarian and he was Jewish and he and his wife and his young boy You We're put into a concentration camp.

[00:19:13] Don: Okay. And he realized how traumatic that was. So what he did is, uh, he made it a reality show, a reality event for his boy. And so he pretended with the boy that this was all a game that they were playing. And his father was, uh, placed actually in a,, a assembly plant where they're building tanks. 

[00:19:32] Justin: Okay.

[00:19:33] Don: Military tanks. Yeah. And he was saying to his boy, yeah, he says they're building these tanks as they're gonna give one away. Whoever is the winner of this game is going to get a tank. And he even escaped one time, and he hit his boy, so his boy was hidden and didn't get taken away. But he went and got up into a room with a microphone, and he actually put out a message to his mother that everything was okay.

[00:19:55] Don: But throughout the whole thing, his boy thought it was just a [00:20:00] game. He was not traumatized by the whole thing. Life was Beautiful was the title of the movie. And a lot of times in life, it's, it is a game that we play. And, you know, even in our struggles, if we can see the bright side and look at it in a different light, all of a sudden it becomes easy.

[00:20:18] Don: Cause I know, and this is pretty fresh, you know, my,, uh, my wife was in the hospital as Justin knows for 21 days 

[00:20:25] both: and, 

[00:20:25] Don: uh, there was times where it wasn't real good. Praise God, she's out. That's right, but I was up there with my daughter Lisa, and uh, we'd sit down, we'd play cards, and we'd pretend that we were camping.

[00:20:35] Don: And then we were having a camping event, and stuff, and like the nurses would come in, and we would talk about, yeah, we're just camping. We had music playing, and all this stuff. But we tried, for a moment, you could, You could just put yourself in a different place. Yeah, change 

[00:20:49] Justin: the environment. Yeah, 

[00:20:50] Don: change the whole atmosphere for what happens.

[00:20:52] Don: And a lot of times in life, that's what we need to do. We need to 

[00:20:55] Justin: start lighting fires, right? 

[00:20:56] Don: Yeah, you know, you need to lighten, they say, lighten up, [00:21:00] you know. And a lot of times in life, we allow issues and situations to control us. And trauma can do just that. And sometimes this trauma leads into fire.

[00:21:09] Don: full blown depression. You know, we allow our emotions to create chemicals inside of us that we need chemicals to live life by. And God never meant that. He meant to be the one there for us. And that's where he made us imperfect. Right. So that he could make us perfect. Yes. And when we, when we realize this, And we take the issues before him because I know the Bible says cast your cares upon him for he cares for you.

[00:21:37] Don: You are the masterpiece. Every one of us were designed to be a masterpiece. 

[00:21:43] both: But 

[00:21:44] Don: the trauma and the issues that we go through in life help us to become that masterpiece. It polishes us. 

[00:21:50] Justin: Yes, they do. Yes, your trials definitely make you and, uh,, they break you and they build you up into something better, something stronger.

[00:21:58] Justin: Yep. And I would [00:22:00] say, even in some cases, you might not even know that you've experienced some trauma. Yeah. So I think , uh, it's also helpful to have prayer in your life. That is right. Reach out to, reach out to God, reach out to the Holy Spirit. Yes. Ask him, God, what areas in my life have, have I experienced trauma that I need to recover from and just wait to see, watch and see what he shows you, because then you can start to see, maybe there's people that you need to break away from, right?

[00:22:35] Justin: Maybe there's, You know, that are causing trauma in your life, or that have caused trauma in your life. I talked about boundaries, um, I talked about boundaries, but maybe there's just certain people that you need to get rid of in your life. Yeah, be careful. 

[00:22:48] talking together: Yeah. 

[00:22:48] Justin: No longer need to be around, and the Holy Spirit , He's going to intercede for you.

[00:22:54] Justin: He's going to, He's going to let you know if you ask him. Oh yeah. So they say, you know, you can pray, but be careful what you [00:23:00] pray for. That's right. Don't pray for patients. Unless you want more possible trauma in your life. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. But it all goes back to just knowing that. You have to start from somewhere.

[00:23:13] Justin: Where you're at right now is hard. It's only going to get harder if you don't do the hard work that's required to not make it easy, but make it easier. So, I would just like to say to people who are listening to this, That might find themselves deep in some trauma, deep in some anchors, right? Anchors into drugs, depression.

[00:23:39] Justin: It's okay to start over. It's okay to completely start over everything. That's right. We go through living our life kind of in this linear cycle, just thinking everything needs to go a certain way. We see everybody else doing, we talked about this in the podcast, like certain, , distractions of people just like their lives looking amazing.

[00:23:58] Justin: And one [00:24:00] picture, like, remember you told a story where the family was all fighting and then they took a picture together and everything just looked great. It's okay to just understand that you haven't got to where you need to be and you can just start over with a fresh, clean slate, pruning those branches, getting to a place where you invite God into your life and just completely going through and understanding. The things that happened in my life do not determine who I get to become from here on out. That is true. God gets to determine who you become. And you get to determine this too. But it's just having that perspective. And I love these perspective changes that you give me, Don. Um, and people that are listening to this.

[00:24:41] Justin: Because it's, it's interesting. You do have to change your perspective. You do. The whole idea of repenting is changing your mind on something. Reversal. Yeah. Perhaps changing your beliefs as well, but that is a necessary process if you're going to push past this. Yeah, 

[00:24:56] Don: that's true Yeah, and what you mentioned about prayer is good because [00:25:00] I you know I believe we have to become battle ready, you know a lot of times they take these young bucks and they Put them into boot camp and they try to get them battle ready.

[00:25:09] Don: See, that is not a pleasant experience. They put them through some pretty traumatic experiences. Because I know I was talking to one gentleman. He said that he was crawling on his belly underneath barbed wire and they were shooting live rounds above him in boot camp. I'm sitting there in my mind saying, Oh, How would I handle that?

[00:25:29] Don: Would I be able to sleep at night? You know, and that's where, that's where I know like, uh, in talking about all this, Justin, you know, I w I just want to say that, you know, we're not alone.

[00:25:39] both: You know, 

[00:25:39] Don: everybody has their own issues and their situations, but people learn how to handle these things. And I know as far as the military, they try to get them ready.

[00:25:48] Don: You know, I, and I know I talked to guys that were in action in the military and he says, People who are not ready, it is tough, you know, cause these people are afraid and a lot of times they get [00:26:00] injured and injured badly. But people who are mentally ready for the battle, and that's where like prayer and getting into the things of God and allowing you to develop a trust in God, it gets you battle ready so that when situations come your way, and some people, you say, these guys must have ice in their veins or something because they can handle everything, but they have just built 

[00:26:21] Justin: differently.

[00:26:22] Don: They, they prepared themselves differently, see things differently, 

[00:26:26] Justin: you 

[00:26:26] Don: know, what's, what's traumatic for some really isn't traumatic at all in their lives, they can handle it, and that's where we sometimes need to toughen up a little bit, and life is a, has a good way of doing that. But if we don't realize what it is used for, 

[00:26:41] both: trauma 

[00:26:41] Don: is a tool to toughen us up, 

[00:26:44] both: you know, 

[00:26:44] Don: and it's hard to say that to people that are struggling in it, but you know, God really does want to help us through all that and help us to see it differently.

[00:26:52] Don: A hundred percent. 

[00:26:53] Justin: And if you can't get over it, if you can't push past it, utilize the trauma, utilize the trauma, because sometimes healing [00:27:00] your trauma is not just for you. It's for others as well, right? That's right. You can't be the Perfect partner or the friend that you want to be That person that you want to be if you're holding on to things that bring out severe insecurities In you, you know, so you you have to utilize that it sounds interesting but you can utilize that trauma because sometimes also When you're dealing with the effects of trauma , you are now somebody that can help others go through their trial.

[00:27:35] Justin: That is true. You are, you are a testimony yourself. And there is a, you know, you talk about being, , you talk about being battle ready and, you know, what are we really ready against? Well, we're ready. There is, it's a spiritual element to it. And there is somebody who, you know, our adversary, The devil, whatever you want to call him.

[00:27:57] Justin: Yeah, I know it doesn't deserve much of a name, but [00:28:00] he can't he can't create anything 

[00:28:02] talking together: Yeah, 

[00:28:03] Justin: I think that's even in the bible. He can't create anything. He's not a creator So he's he just wants to destroy everything. He just wants to steal and destroy. That's right He knows he can't create anything. That's why he wants to mess up.

[00:28:15] talking together: Yeah, what you're trying to 

[00:28:16] Justin: create what you're trying to do That's good. That's why you might have that trauma in your life. But what the You Enemy meant for evil God can flip it for good. Amen to that That's what i'm saying. You can be a direct sometimes the things that you've been through You have the best heart.

[00:28:32] Justin: You have the best experience. Yes, you have the best words to say to somebody Who is struggling with that the most? 

[00:28:40] Don: Yeah, that's for sure. Yeah, he is, uh, you know, God is, he's designed life in such a way where he wants to create, like you were saying, and he wants to create a beautiful life in each and every one of us.

[00:28:51] Don: But like our adversary wants to mess that up. So he allows trauma and situations. And if we don't realize where our [00:29:00] help comes from, we struggle with all this stuff. And that's where we in life, we have to get ourselves into a place where we can recover from that sort of thing. And the beauty of what we have right now here, Justin, is we We're trying to get an understanding, you know, that Jesus came to set the captives free, you know, and trauma is something that if we don't free ourselves of, you know, we're not really free.

[00:29:25] Don: It's, it's a bondage. A lot of times people carry heavy baggage around in life. And I know myself, it's hard to go anywheres when you got a heavy bag, you know, it just weighs you down. Your fingers get numb. It doesn't matter. But see, a lot of times the trauma becomes the baggage we're always carrying. 

[00:29:45] both: And 

[00:29:45] Don: we have to be so afraid to do things because I could be traumatized.

[00:29:48] Don: Or I don't want to do this, or go here, or whatever it might be. Because something might happen. You know, when we place our total trust in Him, He will take us through all this. And it's [00:30:00] all a tool. It's a tool for making us a better people. And that's where right now, you know, people are, many people are in recovery.

[00:30:05] Don: For more UN videos visit www. un. org Of a trauma, a traumatic situation in their life. And God wants something beautiful. He wants to make our lives the best it can be. To be that tree that bears great fruit. God has got good things for us. 

[00:30:20] Justin: Yes, he does. And I think , in order for you to fully know what God wants for you, , , there needs to be some self reflection, 

[00:30:29] Justin: and that may involve forgiving some people Maybe did some bad things or said some bad things to you because the forgiveness isn't for them It's for you and once we can do that We can be the tree that bears the most fruit fruitful 

[00:30:42] Don: and all that we do Yeah, and this is what you're talking about is the total born again experience God is trying to make a new person out of each and every one of us And he's created us in the way where we can be traumatized You But we can become whole in him.

[00:30:58] Don: And that's where, when we [00:31:00] give our lives over to him, he blesses us greatly. Yeah, he does.

[00:31:05] Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word. Until then, stay blessed.

[00:31:20] Justin: Bye the best. See you guys.