Healing Combat Traumaनमुना

Restoration

In northern Italy, there is a village that produces vases worth ten times more than any other goods sold in the area. To create these vases, an artisan smashes a simple vase on the ground, shattering it into dozens of pieces. Then, with the greatest care and skill, the artisan laboriously reassembles the vase using glue mixed with gold. When finished, every golden vein becomes a magnificent element in the once-broken vase, adding to its beauty and value. This technique is also practiced in Japan and is known as kintsugi.

This process is similar to how God heals and restores the brokenness of combat trauma. He can bring beauty and value from the pain you have experienced. He will likely do this in ways you cannot fathom. The resurrected Christ retained His scars, even in His glorified body. Maybe in eternity, we will see those scars and behold with our own eyes the evidence of His ultimate sacrifice of love. Our scars, the ones we bear in our bodies and hearts, will also be transformed in heaven. We will see them in the light of God’s love and His final victory over evil.

You have been in some dark places since your traumatic experiences. God desires to help you. What God said to His servant King Cyrus in Isaiah 45:2-3 can be a promise to you as well. God knows your name. He has called you. He’ll see to it that neither mountains, gates of bronze, bars of iron, or the blackest darkness keep you from where He wants you to go. And there are treasures hidden in that darkness that He wants to give you. As you receive them, you’ll know for sure that the God of the Bible is the One who has been with you in that dark cave of trauma. Those who have not entered the darkness will never touch the treasures reserved for you. God is offering them to you. May He give you the sight to see, accept, and use them for your healing and the glory of the Kingdom of God. And may the golden veins of your restored soul be evident to all, for all eternity.

Thought of the Day: I am so thankful that God is a God who restores. I will trust the brokenness of my life into His hands. I know He can make something beautiful out of something broken.

Plan Provided by Ben Bennett, Resolution Movement, and Cru Military. Cru Military offers spiritual resources that help caring Christians reach out in love to the global military community. For more information, please visit crumilitary.org