The Unexpected Gift of Walking Through Trauma

Finding God’s Healing in the Brokenness

When I look back at my life, I can trace much of who I am to the trauma I have lived through. It is not a story I ever wanted to tell, but it is mine. For years, trauma was my constant companion, shaping everything I did, thought, and felt. The weight of it pressed down on me, and no matter how hard I tried to outrun it, it was always there.

But here’s the thing: it didn’t start when I was an adult. The roots of it go all the way back to my childhood. I was just a kid. I was too young to understand what was happening, too young to know that the things I was experiencing weren’t normal. The fear, the confusion, the loneliness. It was all so overwhelming, and there was no one to make it stop.

And truthfully? I didn’t know how to live any other way…

The trauma became my normal. I didn’t have the words for the things that were happening to me. I didn’t know that I was living in a fog. I didn’t know that I was walking a path that no child should ever have to walk. But I didn’t have a choice. I just kept walking.

Trauma might make you look different. It might make you respond to the world in ways that others don’t understand. But after years of it, you begin to know what you are up against. You start to realize that, like Paul, there is a place waiting for you where everything will make sense. Not now. Not yet. But one day, it will. And in the meantime, you live with the tension of feeling broken but knowing that you are still part of something bigger.

As time passed, I started to feel like I was running from something I could never escape. It wasn’t until I started to slow down that I realized how deeply my trauma had shaped me. I was living through it, but I wasn’t really living. I was just existing. I wasn’t fully present with the world, with people, or with God. But slowly, God began to do something in me.

I thought for a long time that the goal was to “get over it.” To somehow leave the past behind me and walk forward free from it. But healing isn’t a clean process. It’s messy. It’s not about ignoring the pain or pretending it’s not there. Healing is about showing up in the midst of the hurt, being honest with yourself and with God, and allowing Him to work through you, even when you don’t understand why things happened the way they did.

I used to think the pain would never end. It felt like it would always be a part of me, something I could never shake off. But over time, I learned that pain has the power to refine you. I learned that God doesn’t waste pain. He doesn’t waste a single part of your journey, no matter how difficult it may seem. He’s there in the struggle, shaping you, preparing you for something more. And while it may not feel like it right now, that something more is beautiful.

If you are walking through something similar, I want you to hear this: you are not alone in your pain.

The journey might be long, and the healing may feel slow, but it is worth it. There will be moments of beauty, moments of grace, even in the hardest parts of your story. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just need to keep showing up, keep talking to God, and keep believing in His goodness even when everything around you feels chaotic.

The reality is that trauma doesn’t define who you are. It refines who you are. You might feel like you’re stuck in the middle of a mess right now, but one day, you’ll look back and see how God used every piece of your pain for something greater. Every moment that felt too heavy to carry will become a part of your story of healing. So don’t give up. Hold onto hope. You are a masterpiece in the making, even on the days when you don’t feel like it.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” – Romans 8:18

If this spoke to you today, share it with someone who needs to hear this message. Let’s stop hiding our pain and start sharing our stories. We’re in this together.

Love, Sarah xx.

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