Healing the Wounds of Trauma

1. What do these verses teach us about God’s character and rela- tionship with us? 2. How is this similar or different from our culture’s view of God? In the large group, read each passage aloud and compare what it tells us about God with what our cultures tell us about God. A. Romans 8.35–39 Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble do it, or hardship or persecution or hunger or poverty or danger or death? As the Scripture says: “For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through himwho loved us! For I am certain that nothing can separate us fromhis love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the pres- ent nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord. Sometimes when trouble comes we think it means that God doesn’t love us anymore. This is not true. Nothing can separate us from his love. God promises to always be with us, even when we suffer (Ps 23.4–5; He 13.5b–6; Is 43.1–2). GOD STILL LOVES US. B. 2 Peter 3.9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins. When we pray that God will stop a certain evil thing, and it continues, wemust not think it is because God is weak. He is in control and hears our prayers. He is slow to act because he wants to give everyone time to repent, not because he is weak. When the time is right, he will powerfully judge sin (Ps 73.25–28; Ro 9.22–24). GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL.

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If God Loves Us, Why Do We Suffer?