After writing about how trauma shapes what we see and hear, I felt it was time to share how I even got here, why I write about faith and trauma in the first place.
The truth is, I never imagined this would be my story. But after everything I’ve walked through, faith became the reason I’m still standing.
I’ve been through more trauma than I sometimes know how to put into words. Looking back, by all accounts, I should be half-crazy. I’ve endured things that could’ve easily hardened me or left me bitter. For years, I lived in survival mode, reactive, exhausted, and just trying to keep my head above water.
I used to joke about it, calling myself a hot mess. I didn’t realize that every time I said it, I was reinforcing a story I didn’t want to live in anymore. That label became part of my identity, and in some ways, it excused the chaos I felt trapped in. But deep down, I didn’t want to keep living like that. I wanted peace.
The Turning Point
That shift didn’t come from a self-help book or a new routine, it started when I began my faith journey in a real, personal way. Not religion. Not performance. Relationship.
It was slow at first, like waking up from a long sleep. But as I started learning who God actually is, and who He says I am, something inside me began to heal.
Every negative thought, every harsh inner voice, every “hot mess” label stood in direct opposition to what God spoke over me.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
I realized I wasn’t broken beyond repair, I was being rebuilt.
Faith Became My Anchor
I’m not saying you can’t heal without faith. Healing takes many forms. But for me, faith was the missing piece that made everything else finally make sense.
Therapy gave me tools.
Books gave me language.
But faith gave me hope.
When everything seemed hopeless, when old triggers resurfaced or shame whispered that I hadn’t changed at all, it was faith that reminded me I wasn’t doing this alone. God was there in every tear, every step, every setback. He held me together when I felt like I was falling apart.
Faith didn’t erase my trauma, but it transformed how I carried it. Instead of being defined by what happened to me, I became defined by the One who carried me through it.
Becoming Who I Am Today
I’m still healing. Still learning. Still growing. But I can say without question that I wouldn’t be who I am today without my relationship with God. It’s what keeps me grounded when life feels uncertain and what brings peace when old wounds try to reopen.
Sometimes I look back at that “hot mess” version of me with compassion instead of shame. She was doing the best she could without the truth she now knows. And that truth has changed everything.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 147:3
A Word for You
If you’re in the middle of your own healing, unsure what role faith plays in it, I just want to say this: God isn’t intimidated by your trauma. He’s not put off by your questions, your pain, or your mess.
He meets you right there, in the middle of it, and begins the quiet work of rebuilding what was broken.
Faith doesn’t mean you skip the hard work of healing. It means you don’t have to do it alone.
Reflection Prompt
Think about one label or thought you’ve been carrying about yourself, something you say without even realizing it.
What would it look like to replace that with what God says about you instead?