Rocks of Trauma — Morning Devotions - Hope 103.2

Rocks of Trauma — Morning Devotions

There is that famous scene from the movie 'Forrest Gump' where rocks are thrown at a house representing past trauma. What are the rocks in your life?

By Chris WittsWednesday 19 Jul 2023Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute


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Transcript:

One of the best movies I’ve seen over the years is Forrest Gump, released in 1994. It won a number of awards, got a good message, and in this movie, rocks are a symbol of rage against injustice and trauma.

In one scene, Forrest and his childhood friend Jenny encountered the dilapidated remains of Jenny’s childhood home, where she’d been abused by her father. Sad story, really. Jenny had been trapped in a cycle of abuse. She didn’t have a loving home, just like Forrest and her mother died when she was five, and Jenny learned to be a survivor early in life. After staring at this dilapidated house for a few minutes, Jenny throws her shoes one at a time at the house and then begins pelting the house with rocks until she falls down, exhausted and weeping. You might remember the scene.

And Forrest, narrating the story, says, ‘Sometimes I guess there’s just not enough rocks.’ I thought, that’s an interesting comment. There are times in life when we feel like throwing rocks of anger or rage at somebody or something, especially when we recall traumatic moments that happened to us, maybe in childhood. And for Jenny, it was an abusive father. But it can take many other forms.

While everyone experiences some form of trauma in their life, we all respond differently to these experiences

The American Psychological Association, The APA defines trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, bullying, war, tragic loss or a natural disaster. The term trauma means wound and traces all the way back to Greek antiquity and can be categorised into three specific types of trauma.

There’s acute trauma, chronic trauma and complex trauma.

Now I don’t know the hurts and pains of your life, but my guess is that most of us carry some kind of hurt disappointment and trauma. Have you had something from your past that’s best described as a traumatic experience?

Some of our bravest men and women return from war or conflicts suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder known as PTSD, and they struggle to even talk to anyone about their experiences. But it is so important for any healing to admit to yourself and to God, and to at least one other person that you are hurting, and you are in the need of healing. Identifying the symptoms you’re experiencing, how often they happen and the impact on your life.

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Now the Bible says, trust in Him. That’s God at all times. You people pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. That’s Psalm 62:8. Finding freedom from the bondage of past pain and to start anew. Now dealing with painful experiences is not easy, but it is critical to healing and the hope of a promising future.

Pain held captive in silence is pain that’s never freed

Jesus said, ‘You’ll know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

One day, a man watched and experienced a gardener, transplanting some flowers. He watched in amazement as the man took the flowers out of their pots and shook them very roughly, and he thought he was about to destroy the flowers. Hey, what’s going on here? And when he asked the gardener why he handled the flowers that way, he explained, “The flowers that came here have roots that are cramped in these little pots. What I’m doing is loosening the soil and giving the roots a chance to breathe and stretch.” Now you may feel a lot like those flowers in a cramped pot. Life is uncomfortable or horrible to past hurts or trauma. But when you give your life to Jesus Christ, he will come and bring new life and a new purpose to everything that’s going on. Life will not become perfect, but there will be an inner healing, and in a strange way, trauma can be turned around and made into something good. People that have done that have accepted their own limitations and their misfortunes. And, more importantly, they accepted that suffering was necessary for them to gain valuable knowledge and to grow in their character.

Now that’s not denial. It’s quite the opposite.

They became determined to control rather than be controlled, and they decided to make progress in their lives each day until they come out of the problem. I can overcome with God’s help and the support from others. At long last, with God’s help through Jesus, you can hope again, too.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, I’ve thrown some rocks in my life, the rocks of hurt and anger, and even the effects of trauma. But, dear Lord, thank you that I can find some help and restoration through the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.