I am thrilled that you stopped by Serenity in Suffering! I hope you’ll stay awhile and find refreshment for your weary heart. My vision moved me to create a place where anyone could find Peace and Purpose in the Storms of life; a safe place to rest, find hope, encouragement, inspiration, and tools for personal growth in times of trial.
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! We have a winner for the autographed copy of Christie Purifoy’s book, Seedtime and Harvest !! Stay with me until the end for the announcement!!
I made an important discovery in a recent therapy session. One of many important discoveries along the way, this revelation was the piece (and peace) I needed at my current crossroads. Relentless at best, resolving and processing past trauma requires continued perspective shifts. I now stood at the crossroads of another perspective shift, continue the focus on wounds or shift the focus to the wonder of progress made so far?
While processing and healing trauma necessitates revisiting and examination of some wounds, at some point the relentless visitation proves exhausting as well as counterproductive.
As someone processing multiple and complicated instances of trauma over the course of my sixty-six years of life, you can imagine the number of trips down anguish avenue I have made.
Through my courage to traverse the painful terrain, the expertise of my therapist, and most importantly God’s faithfulness, significant healing is evident in my life. But more and more I feel the nudge to shift perspective, grappling with the question of focus on wounds or wonder?
Joy, one of the signs of my nervous system healing, resides at home with me more now than in previous years. During my healing journey as God manifested His presence in affirming ways, joy accompanied moments when I recognized Him near me. I learned it was possible to experience joy even amid the hardships and wrestling with the past.
But I also learned the object of my focus shaped my experience. An intense focus on wounds resulted in a transient joy, weak and short-lived. While a focus on wonder created an explosion of lasting joy.
Working hard revisiting past wounds exclusively focused on healing, kept me stuck in heavy emotions with only a glimpse of the joy possible on the other side. My perspective of tenacious seizure of past wounds, with intent to heal them all so that I experienced freedom and peace was not only exhausting, but unrealistic.
Healing is a journey not an event. And sometimes that journey involves stops other than relentless wound probing.
As I opened space for exploring wonder, I discovered unexpected moments of God’s presence bringing with it unshakable joy. Maybe a gorgeous sunset, the laughter of children playing, an unusual kindness from a friend, or a moment of deep peace which made no sense given my circumstances, embraced me. Though none of these moments erased my pain, they affirmed God’s never-ending presence and joy, even in hardship.
Wounds or wonder? Choosing wonder especially when it makes no sense allows us to hold onto joy, giving us strength and hope to move forward.
Yet in this season I found my focus dead set more on wounds and what was wrong, rather than on all the things going well and my progress within my healing journey.
It reminded me of the story of the disciple Thomas in John 20:24-29, who, though the other disciples told him Jesus was alive, claimed unless he saw Jesus’ wounds, he would not believe. Think about this, when one week later he saw Jesus come through the wall of the upper chamber where they were all meeting, he glanced at the miracle but focused on the wounds.
Rather than standing amazed at Jesus Christ, alive and victorious before him, or falling down in awe of the Savior of the world risen from the dead, he insisted on feeling the scars instead.
When living in the hard places, all too often this is our plight too. We fixate on the pain, the disappointments, and all that is missing from our lives, allowing our emotions to define our reality. The story of Thomas reminds us that perspective matters.
As I thought about my own journey and the Holy Spirit’s nudge to pursue a perspective of wonder, I realized the bigger truth: God is still working, still present, still sending moments of wonder my way. This in no way denies the pain of past wounds, but it validates joy’s permanence in suffering through the presence of God.
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Yes, life is an unimaginable mix of highs and lows, of breathtaking wonder and deep wounds, even apart from past trauma. But we choose our perspective, which shapes our experience. Perhaps even amid facing the hard reality of our wounds, we can choose a more wonder focused perspective allowing God to bind up our wounds with His eternal joy.
The winner of the autographed copy of the book, Seedtime and Harvest by Christie Purifoy is Carolin Martens!!! Congratulations Carolin, I will be reaching out for your mailing address to send the book your way!
Thank you to all who have purchased my books over the past several months! Your support has blessed and encouraged me!
May I ask a huge favor? Would you take the time to leave a review on Amazon? Even if you haven’t fully read the books yet, you can share what you liked and found helpful.
Reviews help others find the book and know a little more about it than just the initial description.
For new readers or those who haven’t yet purchased the books, you can find them on Amazon at these links:
A Passion for Christ: A Transformative Journey through the Passion of Christ to a Passion for Christ- order on Amazon HERE.
The Grace of Gratitude: A 21-Day Journey to a Heart Transformed by Grace- order on Amazon HERE.
More Encouragement…
Catch up at the blog: A deeply personal account of grief’s work in my life through two painful losses.
The Healing Power of Grief -Read HERE
*Excerpts from Tauren Wells’ book, Joy Bombs informed my thinking and gave me clarity on my crossroads moment with wounds and wonder.
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