We avoid entering the messy stuff of people’s lives because we fear we won’t know what to say, what to do, how to ‘help’. Trauma and its aftermath frightens us, because it is hard to watch people suffer, and stand helplessly by, with nothing practical to offer by way of support.

In the past five years I have seen things I didn’t know were possible, of people in pain struggling against it, and wrestling with darkness and fear. I have had more moments of questions without answers than ever in my life.

And if there is one thing I have learned when working with victims of abuse, it is the importance of embracing awkward moments, and being comfortable with not knowing what to say. Because in those moments, all the victim needs from me, is to sit quietly and know that I care. Words will come later, when the time is right and the words bring healing. But in moments of deepest trauma, when the mind cannot even absorb words, caring presence is all that matters.

The silent support of one true friend at a loss for words offers more hope and comfort than a thousand right answers from a heart without compassion. Love heals.

Love,
~ T ~

© Trudy Metzger

“It’s just your imagination.” … “It’s demonic activity.” … “You’re just making it up.” … These are some of the responses you will potentially hear from religious people, if you have been visited by angels in a place of trauma and pain, and have shared it.

Not all of us have the experience of angels showing up in ways that we see, experience or recognize them cognitively. But some do. Since July of this year I have heard personal testimonies from several young women–women who did not know each other–who have had angelic encounters. One, when she shared it with someone from church, was told it was demonic activity. The other, when she shared it, received affirmation.

The comfort angels have brought to victims of abuse, in their times of struggle and pain, is a beautiful thing. (I’ve started to pray for angels to visit people in their sleep, in their waking hours and in any time of struggle.) To call it demonic is tragic at best. The Bible tells plenty of stories of angels visiting people, and Jesus speaks to angelic presence particularly in the area of childhood abuse. For someone religious to try and rob a child (or young man/woman) of the beauty of this encounter makes no sense, and has no biblical grounds.

My encouragement to you, if you have been visited by an angel, is to thank God for His comfort, and for creating ‘ministering spirits’ as Hebrews 1 calls them, to watch over you. And Matthew 18:10 says that the angels of a wounded child ‘do always behold the face of God’. This could mean a few different things, and I do not pretend to fully grasp it. But I know that God is light, and all that is in His presences is made light, so angels who are always in God’s presence and face, will bring light into darkness, hope into hopelessness and the love and comfort of God to wounded children.

Hold onto the God of that comfort, and never let anyone take the memory of that encounter from you. And may angels carry you and minister to your spirit as you heal and find hope.

Love,
~ T ~