Casey Weymouth is one of the founding directors of The Fix Ministry, a discipleship program for individuals battling substance abuse and life-controlling issues. Casey holds a masters degree in addiction counseling from Liberty University and she and her husband are endorsed church planters for the North American Mission Board. She serves on the SBCV Women’s Ministry Team, and works in the substance use disorder office of Richmond Behavioral Health. Casey is passionate about reaching and teaching lost and broken women through the Word and seeing them walk in the fullness of Christ they were created for. She enjoys spending time doing anything outdoors with her husband, Fred, and her children, Coleman and Paisley. 
Trauma, triggers, and stress. Oh my!!
Just mentioning these buzzwords can put even the most seasoned believer on edge feeling inadequate, unqualified, and insecure about how to move forward in helping a sister in need. You may be tempted to shrink back from offering help to those who struggle with addictions, who’ve endured domestic violence, and various other forms of abuse, choosing to leave it to the “professionals”. However, my heart is to encourage and embolden you today, my sister, and remind you that you have been equipped with everything you need for life and godliness. While we must be careful not to be flippant about slapping a scriptural Band-Aid on an emotional gunshot wound, rest assured, the gospel is where freedom and healing from trauma can be found.
Part of effective ministry is recognizing that trauma is not just some heady foreign concept used in psychology, or an overused buzzword thrown about on social media, but that it is at the core and the very nature of the human experience. Trauma is, in its simplest definition, what happens to us internally because of difficult events, situations, accidents, loss, abuse, just to name a few. It is how we cope emotionally with life’s difficulties, and scripture speaks in detail about this suffering. There was trauma in the garden, there was trauma on the ark, there was trauma in Egypt, there was trauma in the wilderness, there was trauma on the CROSS, and there exists, my friend, trauma and suffering in all aspects of our lives. We’ve all experienced some degree of trauma living in between Eden and Glory, and even Jesus himself, who endured unfathomable trauma, warned us that in this world, we would have trouble, but that we could find hope in the fact that if He overcame the world, so shall we (John 16:33). As long as we are exiles in this land, we will all walk through trauma.
The concept we must keep in mind, though, sisters, is that women who have experienced seriously traumatic events need abundant grace and understanding, a place to process difficult and complex feelings and emotions, where you sometimes only provide your presence rather than a solution. We must be diligent to provide a safe and trusting environment, be an active listener, and advocate for them when they are not capable, emotionally, of advocating for themselves, while simultaneously empowering them as they learn to become independent in advocating for themselves. Discipling people who have experienced trauma can be messy, do it anyway. Meet people in their mess and love them while they’re in it, always pointing them to Christ. That’s what Christ did for us!
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
