As someone who has spent a long time working on healing from a variety of traumas, I have learned a decent bit about trauma and its impact. I was reading a book on trauma, recently, and was intrigued by it’s explanation about how trauma that occurs at a younger age can be even more devastating in its impact. The book was specifically discussing the effect that traumatic events that occur between the ages of 0-2 have on us.

As I was going about my day later it hit me thinking about the fact that we will probably rarely know of those traumatic experiences. For all the things that I have been consciously working to heal there may be more that I may never know but that still impact me.

This was a very convicting thought for me. It humbled me to remember that while it is my responsibility to choose to heal from the things I have lived, ultimately I am not the one in control of my healing. The healing that has come in my life has required faithfulness from my end, but has come only from God Himself.

My healing is not dependent on my ability to remember everything that happened to me. My healing is not dependent on my ability to learn how to reframe my perspective or retrain my brain.

I think it makes sense that we try to reestablish some sense of control through being responsible to heal. What happens to you in traumatic situations is almost always outside of your control, and so many traumatized victims long to have that power back. But we don’t have the power to actually heal ourselves.

Healing comes only from the Lord.

This isn’t to minimize the reality that there are so many steps we should as humans take to work toward healing. While healing is from the Lord, I do strongly believe He calls us to be faithful in choosing it. Healing requires intentional pursuit.

Because of sin, what we contribute is always broken. Even the good that humans do is always touched by sin. If healing was in our power, that too would be tainted.

God is perfectly holy. He has complete authority over the world. There is nothing outside of His power.

Healing that comes from the Lord is full.