“A man in the land of Uz was named Job. That man was honest, a person of absolute integrity; he feared God and avoided evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a vast number of servants, so that he was greater than all the people of the east. Each of his sons hosted a feast in his own house on his birthday. They invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the days of the feast had been completed, Job would send word and purify his children. Getting up early in the morning, he prepared entirely burned offerings for each one of them, for Job thought, Perhaps my children have sinned and then cursed God in their hearts. Job did this regularly.” (Job 1:1-5)

The American Psychology Association defines trauma this way:
“fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning.” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2022 https://dictionary.apa.org/trauma).

There are three main types of trauma: Acute, Chronic, or Complex

Acute trauma results from a single incident.

Chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged such as domestic violence or abuse.

Complex trauma is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive, interpersonal nature.

And here is one thing that experience teaches us: Trauma is an equal rights employer. Wheaton’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute reports that 70% of adults of have experienced some type of trauma event at least once in their lives while more than 2/3 of children have experienced a traumatic event by the age of 16.

Sometimes we can think of trauma as a result of an individual’s poor choices and sinful life. This kind of thinking has crept into the worldview of many protestant Christians here in America over the past fifty years. The idea is that if your life is bad, turn your life over to Christ, and life will be good. Such a recipe does not exist according the scriptures.

Consider the book of Job. Listen and see if you hear anything that Job was guilty of that would cause the impending trouble and trauma in his life.

Job 1:1-5 “A man in the land of Uz was named Job. That man was honest, a person of absolute integrity; he feared God and avoided evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a vast number of servants, so that he was greater than all the people of the east. Each of his sons hosted a feast in his own house on his birthday. They invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the days of the feast had been completed, Job would send word and purify his children. Getting up early in the morning, he prepared entirely burned offerings for each one of them, for Job thought, Perhaps my children have sinned and then cursed God in their hearts. Job did this regularly.”

Job wasn’t perfect. He was a sinner living in a sinful world. Yet, even when you are doing everything “right” – life in this world can go so very wrong. Yes, trauma is an Equal Rights Employer.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You that You never leave us, that You are always with us. I pray that You would remind us that You are here even when times are difficult and we begin to doubt. Bring to us that faith to trust in You always. And we pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.