What Is Post Traumatic Spiritual Growth?

What is Post Traumatic Spiritual Growth?

Part Three of a four part interview

This is part three in a series on Post Traumatic Spiritual Growth. I’m posting excerpts from an interview that I did with Marie Woods from Life Above for their recent Mental Health Conference. I was asked to address the topic from a pastoral perspective. Read Part One here.

Part Two ended with me talking about how to recover from trauma. The next question was…

How can God use trauma for good?

One thing about trauma is that it teaches you something that a classroom never can. For example, if you’re an alcoholic looking to recover, do you want a mentor who has kicked their habit or a mentor who has only read about addiction recovery?

The answer is obvious. You want someone who has experienced addiction. They know something that others don’t know. They have greater insight than the average person. So in a strange way, you could even  say that their addiction gave them a gift of wisdom to help others. You have to be careful with that analogy. But there is some truth to it. And trauma can teach us things that we’d never learn anywhere else.

For example, my sister felt that way about her cancer. She had colon cancer that eventually took her life. Many people let cancer ruin their lives. They dwell on all their losses. But my sister used it to make the last years of her life the best years.

She contacted friends and family, long forgotten, renewed her relationship with them and added so much to her life and the lives of others. She called cancer a gift because it made her last seven years the best years of her life rather than just growing old and dying. 

Did your sister experience Post Traumatic Spiritual Growth?

Yes. In fact, Post Traumatic Growth is known for five things and she experienced all five.

First, Post Traumatic Growth gives you ,,,

a new appreciation of life

People feel more grateful for the things they have than what they’ve lost. 

Second, …

Improved relationships.

People who’ve experienced trauma often have great compassion and empathy which helps them understand people and connect better to them. The trauma itself often draws people to you and creates a new intimacy. This was very true in the life of my sister. By the time that she died, she had reconnected with countless people.

Third…

Personal strength

When people have survived a trauma they often feel more capable of handling other life challenges and this can inspire others. In the tributes to my sister, the word “inspiration” was the word people used most often to describe her.

Fourth, Post Traumatic Growth brings …

New possibilities

Coming out of a season of trauma can give you new eyes to discover new interests or talents. People might make changes to their lives that they hadn’t previously considered. In fact, my sister got involved in an organization called A 2nd Act that helps people discover a new life post cancer. They are all about Post Traumatic Growth.

And fifth, Post Traumatic growth can bring a …

Spiritual change

When people reach the end of themselves they often find a greater awareness of God. My sister had many of her spiritual questions from life answered in her last year. It was truly a spiritual awakening.

All five attributes of Post Traumatic Spiritual Growth were true with my sister. Her final years were powerful. She inspired many people with her positive attitude, her new faith in God, and her work encouraging other cancer survivors.

These five attributes are impressive.

Yes. In fact, they are what most people are looking for in life, right?  It’s so ironic that these things are available on the other side of trauma, but you have to push past the pain. You have to lift your head up to look for these good things. 

Too often we are so consumed with what’s wrong with our lives that we miss the good things that come our way. And I think God wants to help people to do this. 

Trauma knocks the wind from you. It makes you want to give up. But God wants to breathe new life into you. Your life probably won’t be the same as it was pre-trauma, but it can be good in a new way if you are open to it. 

Erwin McManus is an author and pastor and he says that

…our greatness is on the other side of our pain.

Think about that. Rather than believing that your trauma has ruined your life, what if your trauma is the doorway to greatness… that God has something on the other side of your pain that couldn’t happen any other way… something that will give your life meaning in a way that you’ve never had before.

So, you think a belief in God is key to Post Traumatic Growth?

I do. God is the god of resurrection and transformation. God can turn anything around.

When we look within ourselves, we can easily grow discouraged because we know that we don’t have it in us to change. That’s why we need to go to God everyday, tell him how we feel, and ask him to help us take one more step closer to that new life that he has for us.

It’s not instantaneous. But it’s possible. 

My prayer would be:

God, I’m broken, but you can heal me. You can restore me. You can make my life good again and use me to help other broken people.

When you see God using you to help other people, it’s so rewarding.  

Have you seen Post Traumatic Growth in your own life?

Absolutely. I mentioned earlier about the spiritual abuse that I had experienced. I had my season in the wilderness…my season of detoxifying where I left church and had to rebuild my life. But I eventually was able to re-enter church.

I think my abuse gave me a great sensitivity to the pain of others. And so I eventually started a church where I talked a lot about some of the things I’ve shared here today. Plus, I’ve written a number of books on this topic and worked in a treatment center helping others.

So, it all turned around in a very positive way for me. That’s why I’m so passionate about this idea of Post Traumatic Growth. 

Are there any Bible verses that point to Post Traumatic Growth?

I list a number of verses in my book, Healing the Hurts of Your Past, but I especially like: Isaiah 61:7 which says,

"Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs."

God is speaking to exiles who have lost everything. Not only that, they lived in shame for how they rejected God. But God tells them, Not only will I restore you, but I will restore you two-fold. A double blessing. In other words, bad things are in your past but good things are to come. I love that. I think that’s the attitude that we have to have if we believe in a God of resurrection.

To be continued…

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I reworked this interview into a four-part video series that you can watch on YouTube. Part One is following…