Digging In: An HGBM Contributing Author Spotlight

At Higher Ground Books & Media, we often talk about healing from trauma and the ways faith shapes how we move forward after life’s hardest moments. But every person’s journey through trauma is different, and the voices that speak into that journey often reflect deeply personal experiences with grief, loss, and faith.

This week’s Digging In spotlight comes from one of our contributing authors who shares a powerful reflection on trauma, faith, and the search for meaning after devastating loss. In this piece, he reflects on how loss shaped his understanding of suffering, spiritual direction, and the hope he ultimately found through his relationship with Jesus.

His story reminds us that trauma can raise difficult questions about faith, purpose, and the nature of suffering in the world—but it can also open the door to deeper reflection and, eventually, hope.

Trauma and Christian Faith

by HGBM Contributing Author, Stephen Shepherd

Until Christ’s return, the world’s economic, social, and political systems are controlled by Satan. This means that Satan is directing our actions unless we pray to Jesus for help. We are all sinners. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, we must live in and for Jesus to find our purpose and direction in life. Unfortunately, many people only pray when they experience trauma. This is fine, but the trauma might have been avoided if a prayer for direction had been issued in the first place. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).

In the Early English Language, the words for Good and God were interchangeable because God can only do good. That’s right, every time trauma arrives, it is Satan’s doing. So when I hear someone ask, “Why did God do this to me?” I am stunned because God is incapable of doing evil. “… how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good gifts to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11). Therefore, only Satan’s causes the evils of trauma.

So, it’s true that we live in an evil world controlled temporarily by Satan and that trauma is caused by the Evil One, which also includes the values to which we aspire. Living a “successful” life according to secular values reduces life to acquiring money and power. Money, by itself, is not evil. According to 1 Timothy 6:10, it is the love of money that creates the problem. “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” If you love anything more than you love God, including money, then your moral path leading to righteousness is distorted by Satan. Therefore, moving through life according to Satan’s influence can easily corrupt a soul from God’s truth. We can all become easily distracted by Satan. Without reading, knowing, and understanding God’s direction for us in the Bible, we are Satan’s pawns in a world gone bad.

Jesus tells us that a life lived for God will not be absent from trauma. According to the Bible, tribulation will always be a part of our lives. So, we cannot avoid trauma; it is an inherent part of evil in the world. But how we deal with trauma makes a huge difference. If we put our faith in secular values instead of in heavenly places, then trauma becomes overwhelming because we misunderstand and misdirect our sorrow. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Without God’s help to understand His Ways, healing from trauma is impossible. Satan won’t heal you. Satan is pleased with your despair, and he wants to give you more. God is the only healer of trauma, and healing depends on your relationship with Jesus. (Continued next week in Part Two)

Next week, our contributing author shares the deeply personal story that shaped his understanding of trauma, grief, and the hope he ultimately found in Christ.