Times & Seasons of Trauma

Trauma Bonds To Time…

“Lori” dreaded the month of March. She didn’t know why; she only knew that every year during this month, she sank into a deep despair and couldn’t seem to pull out of it until sometime in April. She tried to lift her mood by spending time with her family, or going to see inspirational movies, or meditating on Scripture, but nothing worked. She had resigned herself to a month of depression and desperation. Lori was suffering from a Trauma Bond to Time.

During ministry sessions, we discovered that Lori’s best friend died in a car accident on March 4th, when Lori was only eight years old. She was heartbroken to lose her friend. Her parents did all they knew to help her, but she was deeply affected by her first experience of death. To make matters even worse, her pet dog got out of the fenced yard, and was never found. Lori mourned the second loss even more than that of her friend, because her dog was her comfort. Everyone tried to cheer her up, to make her feel better — but nothing worked for weeks. Lori finally pushed her grief down, and moved on with her life. However, her sadness was stored in her emotional vault, and she also formed the belief that “bad things happen in March.” As she grew older, anytime something disappointing or negative happened during the month of March, it added to the growing evidence that proved the danger of this time of year.

Time passed, and the connection to that original trauma at eight years old was forgotten, but the stored emotions remained in Lori’s subconscious mind, reminding her annually through unexplained sadness and grief. As we worked with Lori to process and release the retained emotions, and dissolved the false belief/negative expectancy that bad things happen in March, Lori was able to gain great freedom from her yearly bout with sadness.

A trauma bond to time can occur when we experience something that is extremely painful or troubling or frightening. Our feelings get “wired” to the timeframe of the event in our subconscious mind, and can also be connected to other things like smells, sounds, colors, etc, This is similar to how PTSD occurs, although the bond to time is cyclical instead of perpetual, If you lost a loved one near the holidays, and now find it difficult to enjoy this time of year, you may have a trauma bond to time.

So how can you discover whether or not your current feelings are tied to something in your past? Here are several steps you can take:

  1. Ask yourself, “When is the first time I remember feeling this way?” When you recall a time, then ask “Is there any earlier time than this one?” Remember that there are often layers of events that seem to reinforce the emotions because they get internally categorized and filed in the same place as the original event.
  2. Once you discover the earliest time or event, ask Holy Spirit if there is anything you need to do in order to release the pain/fear/trauma. This might include someone you need to forgive (yourself? person who hurt you? God, if you blamed Him at the time?) It might also include something you need to repent of, liker bitterness, judgement, resentment, etc. Whatever Holy Spirit reveals to you, do it. If you need help, call on Jesus Who daily intercedes for you, and He will help you.
  3. Next ask, “Is there a lie that I believed or that was formed in my heart about this event? About myself? About life in general? About God?” If so, first repent of believing the lie (repentance is {metanoia – Greek} which means to change your mind.) Then ask Holy Spirit to give you the truth that will break the power of the lie (false belief.)
  4. Pray something like this: “Father God, I repent for believing the lie that _____________________, and instead receive your Truth that ______________. I choose to release all of the accummulated pain/anger/fear/sadness/rejection/anxiety (whatever the stored emotion(s) is/are) to You right now that are connected in any way to this time and event. I ask You to take them from me as I release them. (Pause to allow Holy Spirit time to remove the trapped emotions.) Now I ask You to give me Your peace/strength/courage/calm/acceptance/freedom (whatever is opposite of the things you released) in exchange. (Pause and receive all that He has for you.) Father God, I ask You to dissolve all trauma bonds and triggers to the emotions, lies, pain, fear, etc., between me and every time, place, space, and dimension. I thank You for setting me free by Your power and grace, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

This is a very simplified example and explanation of trauma bonds to time. If you need help, we are here to assist you in getting freedom from anything that hinders you from experiencing the peace, love, and joy of Jesus!

  • * The story of Lori is fictional, but is a realistic example of some of the trauma bonds to time we have helped clients release.

Praying For Peace

Peace. Often elusive at the time we need it most, when we are struggling with the worst. It’s enemies are sickness, death, financial loss, overdue bills, busyness, strife, a difficult boss, a strife-filled home — so many things. They drown out our sense of tranquility and rest with relentless force, leaving us stress, distressed, and anxious. Yet Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27 – NKJV) So why the disconnect? Why the struggle to find peace in the midst of turmoil?

The answer is found in Philippians 4:6-7 — “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.  And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. (AMP) You know this verse, don’t you? Probably have quoted it, claimed it, declared and decreed it — and yet…have failed to find the peace it speaks of. There is a key though. A secret, if you will. Its the word “transcends” (some versions say “surpasses” — same meaning.) the word means “to rise above or go beyond the limits of something.” Hmmm…. This peace rises above and goes beyond the limits of what? Our understanding. See, most of the time we want to know the outcome. Or the end game. Or the answer. Our understanding depends on it. We tie our peace to it. And yet the Word says that His peace transcends our need to know these things.

So, question: Do you want His peace, or do you cling to your need to understand? What if you have to choose one or the other? What if having His peace is simply a matter of choosing it in prayer, and letting go of our demand to know the WHAT or the WHY? I propose that when we give Him our anxious and worried thoughts (which are actually negative faith, by the way), and thankfully ask for His peace in the midst of our circumstances, that peace becomes ours and stands guard at the door of our heart to do battle with those things that are at enmity with His promises.

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way….” (2 Thess. 3:16 – NKJV)

Healing Your Feelings

I taught a class recently on the high cost of unresolved negative emotions…. all who attended were ready to learn how to let go of the past and press in to a brighter emotional future.   Here’s a brief overview of the class:

The High Cost of Unresolved Negative Emotions:

  1. Build Up/Overload: When negative feelings/emotions are ignored or suppressed, they get stuffed down into an emotional holding place. Each time this happens, the pool of stuffed emotion has more pressure. Eventually, the proverbial straw will cause us to explode or implode over some seemingly small thing. We get “flooded” and unable to control our emotional responses any longer.
  1. Physical Illness: When we experience negative thoughts/feelings/emotions, our brain releases chemicals into our body, like cortisol, adrenaline, and others. Over 1,300 chemical reactions can occur during strong negative emotion. If we deal constructively with those emotions, the chemicals are excreted through the bodies elimination processes. If we don’t deal with them, the chemicals/toxins are stored in various places in the body. They eventually cause disease and dysfunction. For instance, anger is typically stored in the liver. Resentment/bitterness is stored in the joints and connective tissue. Grief is stored in the lungs. (Not the actual emotions, but the neuro-chemicals that produce the emotions.) 87% – 95% of all illnesses are psychosomatic – meaning they are related to our thoughts/emotions.
  1. Many negative emotions have been pushed down/ignored to the point of being unrecognized except by their physical manifestation in the body or the effects on the mind. Example: Arthritis – jealousy/resentment/bitterness; Depression – anger/frustration.
  1. Lowers your Frequency: Frequency is the measurement of electrical vibration ; usually expressed as Mhz. Normal body = 62-68 MHz. Below 62 MHz is when human cells can start to change or mutate.
  • 58MHz – cold or flu
  • 55 MHz – candida
  • 52 MHz – Epstein-Barr virus
  • 42 MHz – cancer
  • 20 MHz – beginning of death process

Negative thoughts/emotions lower frequency by 10-12 MHz

Positive thoughts/feelings/prayer raises frequency by 10-15 MHz

What Can We Do About It?

  1. Begin to work with the Holy Spirit to clean out our emotional storehouse. When negative emotions arise, investigate their origins in your life. Identify the root cause and begin to heal that particular feeling.
  • Dr. Caroline Leaf says that when something comes to mind, we need to start dealing with it right away, or else it sinks back down into our subconscious and only re-emerges later when we experience the negative effects again.
  1. Start looking at the physical things we are experiencing to see if there might be a correlation between our aches and pains and our stuffed feelings. Read Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, or some other Mind-Body book for clues. Louise Hay even has an app for your phone!
  1. Use Essential Oils to help bring up your frequency, unblock stuffed or repressed emotions, de-program triggers, release emotional build up, assist the body to re-program DNA and RNA, etc.

*EO’s in the higher vibrational range influence emotions

*EO’s in the lower vibrational range have more effect on structural and physical changes, including cells, hormones and bones; also on viruses, bacteria and fungi.

  1. Speak the Word of God over your emotions. There is scientific proof that your body listens to your voice, and also that the Word of God has an effect in the brain that is unique.
  1. PRAY! God says “you have not because you ask not”. We must become intentional about our thoughts and feelings; and we must ASK God to heal us – not automatic even though our inheritance. Receive by faith through grace.