Finding the Light in TraumaSample

DAY 2

BASKETS

Welcome back to our study this week on trauma. As I described yesterday, the weight of a traumatic event can show effects throughout a lifetime. Trauma and PTSD most often times are harder to overcome than any other adversity life throws at you.

However, through Scripture this week, I am praying you will find the light in the darkness. Just yesterday we learned Jesus had performed one of the greatest miracles of His ministry. Out of five loaves and two fish, He fed ten thousand or more people and all who ate were satisfied (Matthew 14:20-21).

Today, I want to reexamine Matthew 14:20-21 because we skipped a very important detail yesterday:

20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

We skipped the BASKETS!!! You may be wondering what the big deal is about the baskets, but actually the baskets are what make our Scripture so great this week.

As we cross-examine previous Scripture in 2 Kings 4:42-44, we can understand God is the one who provides in our needs and He will always provide generously. The baskets we read about today show the miracle of feeding ten thousand or more people with five loaves and two fish until all were satisfied AND there were leftovers. This provides proof that God performs miracles in His people’s lives that are in abundance.

The baskets were leftovers. The scraps and broken pieces of the five loaves and two fish. You see, it’s a reminder of this great miracle Jesus just performed.

I am not trying to degrade any traumatic experience you have endured, but in order to move forward with understanding how to overcome its debilitating effects, we must look at the whole picture.

God is a God of miracles. I have no doubt that if you are here seeking to find the light in trauma, God has been working miracles in your life from the beginning.

I leave you with this today: what’s in your baskets? What miracles has God performed in your life, no matter how big or how small? Remember the baskets in our Scripture were filled with pieces, scraps, leftovers. The miracle was not in its fullness going into the baskets, it was what was left from the miracle. AND, from this one miracle, there were TWELVE baskets full of leftovers.

God’s past miracles performed in your life have leftovers that can fill your baskets. In order to overcome the trauma, it is imperative you prayerfully and thoughtfully fill your baskets.

I’ll see you tomorrow when we learn the disciples encounter turbulence as they sail away from the miracle just performed.

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