On a beautiful Sunday morning in my first pastorate, God’s manifest presence was very rich during the singing. As I took over the service as I often did when I sensed God changing the service order, I asked the choir to bring the singing to a close. Then, the sound of laughter from a lady to my right on the front row.

As it grew louder, it drew more laughter from the crowd. Not knowing what to do with the holy interruption, I called her husband who sat at the far back to my left. Look at your wife I said, and he coming forward, sighted her and bursted into the same laughter with husband and wife slapping ‘high five’ again and again.

It looked like an irreverent interruption of a church service by the duo, but I could not but sense it was a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit taking place in their home.I remember their visit to my office two days later. The wife narrated how they had come to church in conflict on Sunday. ‘My husband has a new wife’ she continued as she narrated how she grew up with a hatred and derision for men due to having an unloving father who ruled his large family with an iron fist and showed his children no love or affection. She grew up vowing to make men cry.

The husband bore the brunt of her childhood trauma. She relished his frustrations at being denied his conjugal rights and rejoiced when she saw him in a pool of tears begging not to be pushed into adultery.

‘‘..I hated you also pastor’’, she said and told me how her dad was a fairly tall and light-complexioned man like me. My sin was that I looked like her father. As she laughed with the supernatural joy of the Holy Spirit on Sunday, the Lord had healed her of her childhood trauma completely. Her marriage to her husband became blissful. It has been over thirty years now and they are enjoying a blissful home.

I have seen God heal people supernaturally like that many times. However, for others, it is a process. Sad to say, I have also seen many people who never heal or move on from the pains of their past. All healing begins with an acknowledgement of pain. Without an acknowledgement of our condition, we cannot be healed.

The ability to find a safe place to open up our wounds is crucial. Concealment keeps the pain within, only for it to manifest as anger, resentment, suspicion, strife, pride and a myriad of other works of the flesh with the capacity to destroy our relationships. When we however confess our faults to one another and pray for one another, healing follows (James 5:15).

We must also acknowledge our helplessness. Only the poor in spirit get to inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3). Most traumatic experiences are connected to significant relationships in our lives. From pains inflicted by parents to siblings, spouses, close friends and others.

Forgiveness is fundamental to healing. Until we let go of the one who hurt us, the hurt will never go away. We forgive for our sake and not for the offender. Forgiveness is given based on the fact that God has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). This is an act of faith. When the Lord Jesus responded to Peter’s enquiry about how many times to forgive saying seventy times seven in a single day, the disciples reacted by saying, ‘’Lord increase our faith’’(Luke 17.5).

Faith does not deny facts but ignores them. Faith for forgiveness relies on the truth that we are forgiven and also on the fact that through the love of God poured abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we are divinely enabled to forgive. We decide to forgive by faith, declare we have forgiven and demonstrate the forgiveness by acts of love. True faith expresses itself through love.“When you’re joined to the Anointed One, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that works and expresses itself through love.”‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ ‭TPT

‬‬The next step is to exercise faith in the provisions of the cross of Christ. This includes a declaration that the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He paid the price for our peace. All that takes away peace like fear, doubt, confusion, hurt and anger have been paid for on the cross (Isaiah 53:5). He provided beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise instead of heaviness (Isaiah 61.3).

Deliberately singing songs of praise and choosing to rejoice is pertinent. These steps when taken in faith will stir up the Holy Spirit within us to heal us and supply abundant peace and joy to our souls.“To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,”‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭74‬ ‭NKJV‬‬We are delivered by God to deliver others. We are healed so that we might heal others. We are called to comfort others who are in ANY trouble with the same comfort with which we are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:4). Hallelujah!

Victor Adeyemi