<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Daniel Binus

God’s Prescription for Healing Trauma

It's great to be here with all of you this beautiful Sabbath morning.

I always love my favorite days, whether it's at home or here in Loma Linda, are days after rain.

The air is clear and crisp, and there's all these beautiful water droplets that are just reflecting the rays of the sun, and it's just a gorgeous, gorgeous picture of God's love for us.

And today's 1 of those beautiful Sabbath mornings here in Loma Linda, isn't it?

This morning I was out running on the trails and the hills above the university here and just praising the Lord for all he's done for us, you know?

And it's amazing when you are away from a place, you know, I spent 8 and a half years here in Loma Linda, you're away from a place for a little while and then you come back.

Just amazing when you reflect back and seeing, yes, this is the same place, but I'm a different person.

It really makes you stop and think and reflect on what God has done.

And we serve an amazing God, and we're gonna be talking about that this morning.

So thank you for inviting me it's a blessing to be here with all of you and we have a lot of ground to cover so we're gonna get right into it but I did want to just share briefly if anyone is interested in a little more of what we do with holistic mental health, you can check out our website, beautifulmindshealth.com, beautifulmindshealth.com.

And then if you would like, you can also check out our podcast, the Brain People podcast.

Some of the podcasts are on AudioVerse, but you can also find them on podcast platforms.

Do any of you recognize any of the other people in this picture?

Some, I shouldn't say X, because I don't know if you're ever an X Advent hoper.

Once an Advent hoper, always an Advent hoper.

So some people that frequented Advent Hope here in the past, Amanda, the 1 that looks very calm, cool, and collected there in the picture, and then Dr.

Katie Elson, who also spent significant time here, so they send their greetings, and they have fond memories as well.

And then that's my good friend, Jonathan Edens.

So Before we get into the message, I wanted to have 1 more short prayer with you all, and then we'll dive right in.

Dear Father, I just thank you so much for such a beautiful day, day that you have given us, a day to connect with the creator of the universe.

And it's amazing when we realize that you are not only the creator, but you are the recreator.

And so Lord, I pray that you would come and do a wonderful thing in our hearts today, that you would Give us soft hearts in place of our hardened hearts that you would put your spirit within us and that you would cause us to walk in your ways to glorify your name.

Lord, speak through me, use me however you best see fit, and I confess that I am a weak and sinful, erring man.

So I pray that you would help me to get out of the way of what you want to do, Lord, and open every heart to hear not my words, but your words.

All right, so I think I was promised a timer.

This is a very common question that I get as a physician, and especially as a psychiatrist, a lot of people wonder, if God is so good, If God loves us so much, why would there be so much pain and suffering in the world?

And indeed, we see that there is a major increase in pain and suffering, not just here, locally, but actually worldwide.

Here's Gallup Poll where they looked at rising negative affect in all countries.

They looked at things like worry, pain, stress, sadness, and anger.

And so essentially what we're seeing is over the years, we're seeing a slight but steady increase in all of the suffering that we see around the world.

And a lot of it, you know, of course, we think about suffering oftentimes as a lack of food security, a lack of adequate housing, et cetera.

But in reality, the greatest suffering that we often see and that I see in my office is an emotional, mental, psychological, and relational suffering.

And if you look at this graph, where does it end?

Do you think the suffering has gotten better?

I mean, think about what we just went through not that long ago when we think about the pandemic.

We know that worry, that depression, that all these problems have gone up significantly.

And there were polls during the pandemic, some household polls, for example, that showed that people on average were suffering 3 to 4 times more symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic.

So yes, we have seen mental health worries and other concerns worldwide are just increasing.

Now, I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers for you this morning of why.

And I'm not going to pretend to just put sugar coat it and say, you know what?

And in reality, I don't think we are going to know all of the reasons why this side of eternity.

In fact, there are things, there are mysteries that God has withheld, and we don't always understand all the reasons.

I mean, even when I say that, I think about John the Baptist, for example.

Why am I here in this dark dungeon when in fact all I've tried to do was what God called me to do?

And yet here I'm suffering, and then he ended up Doing what?

And so we don't always understand in our lifetime all of the reasons why, but what I do want to share with you today, and what I do hope you will be encouraged by, is that God is faithful.

And through the trials, through the difficulties that he has promised 1 thing, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Now, the thief does not come except to do what?

And what do you think he is trying to steal?

He's trying to steal our peace, our joy, and he is trying to ultimately steal God's sheep away from him, right?

And he does that by disturbing our peace and our joy.

He's trying to kill that relationship between us and God, and in doing so, he actually destroys us.

Because we know that life is knowing God, being in relationship with him, so that means that death is actually being out of relationship with him.

Well, of course we could say he's trying to destroy us, but ultimately he is trying to destroy God's kingdom, isn't he?

And God's kingdom is made up of his subjects, his sheep, right?

But Satan is doing his best to destroy that so that he can be the king, so that he can have the power, so that he can have control.

Now, before we get into the next part of this verse, right, where Christ says, but I have come.

That they may have life and life more abundantly.

So before we get into how Christ wants to give us that abundant life, we need to understand a little bit about Satan's methods so that we can be aware of his deceptions.

You know, I don't have the quote here in this presentation, but Ellen White actually comments that it is important that we are aware of the devil's devices.

Now, does that mean we should over-focus on Satan?

No, our focus should be on Christ, but we also have to remember that we are in a war.

And if you are going to battle and you know nothing about the tactics of the enemy, do you think you might be at a disadvantage?

You have to understand somewhat of the tactics of your enemy so that you can stand, so that you can be victorious.

And of course, you need to, most importantly, be connected with the great general who will direct you in the battle.

But we need to have some degree of understanding.

Back to Menu

God’s Prescription for Healing Trauma

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Dustin Pestlin Weekend

How to be Victorious in God’s End-Time Judgment

47m

The Root Cause of Disease

58m

Look Up and Live

Non-Stop Action

46m

Thirst

56m

The Mark of the Beast Vs. the Seal of God: Is It Just a Conflict Over Days?

58m

The Big Three

What is Forgiveness Really?

55m

Righteousness By Faith

6. Christian Perfection - Romans 8

57m

WYC 2012 Morning Devotional

Fruits and Gifts, Part 4

41m

Seminars

Hard Profit with Integrity

36m

AMEN 2013: Morning Devotions

Principles of Biblical Leadership – Part 2

53m

Child Raising Tips: First Time Obedience

47m

Sound Doctrine