5.30.23
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
There is no PTSD in heaven!! The Mayo Clinic describes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic abuse, or other threats on a person’s life. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
But here’s what the Mayo Clinic report of PTSD left out – there is no PTSD in heaven!!
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
That which hurts now, won’t hurt in heaven. That which haunts you now, won’t haunt you in heaven. That which is a recurring horror now, will not be a recurring horror in heaven. Every tear will be dried. All mourning, crying, and pain will be banished. They will be a thing of the past for the first things have passed away. There is no PTSD in heaven!!
PTSD means that the trouble you’ve had and the trauma you’ve experienced in the past follows you around, and then at the most inconvenient time sneaks up and says, “Boo.” PTSD means that you are chained to the pain of your past and, like allergies, when the conditions are just right, will drag your soul into sorrow and fear. PTSD is the throbbing reminder of the damage deep within you. PTSD means that trouble follows you around. The trauma of this life is never resolved.
This was the assumption of the Sadducees (a Jewish sect in the time of Jesus). They didn’t believe in life after death and asked Jesus a question they thought would expose the folly of heaven. A woman married a man who died and then, because of the law of Moses, she married his brother – and then he died. Eventually, she married seven brothers who all died. Here’s the question: In heaven, which one of the seven will be her husband? Note again the assumption: trouble follows you around and it is never resolved. That which began as trouble on earth becomes an insoluble problem in heaven. According to the Sadducees, if there is an afterlife, it wouldn’t be a heaven because what you sow on earth grows to full harvest in heaven. For this woman who had seven husbands, heaven would be hell.
Jesus didn’t answer their question, He exposed and rejected the false assumption of the question. Trouble doesn’t follow you into heaven. There is no PTSD in heaven!! The first things will have passed away. All those things that bring mourning, crying, and pain will not follow you into heaven. Hallelujah!
My theology also says that heaven makes up for everything. The little girl repeatedly raped by her stepfather will not be curled up in a fetal position in some corner of heaven overwhelmed by the brokenness of her earthly life. Her glorification (the transformation of her being and her body) will swallow up and leave behind forever the sorrow and trauma of this life. Every tear will be dried – the first things have passed away. The Sadducees implied to Jesus that the pain and trauma of earthly life are never resolved. Jesus told them that they were wrong – earthly trouble doesn’t follow you into heaven!! The beings we will be will transcend the dilemmas and brokenness of this life.
I don’t know why God allowed your stepfather to repeatedly rape you. I don’t know why God allowed that priest or that pastor or that teacher to molest hundreds of boys and girls. I don’t know why your beautiful and precious two-year-old daughter died of cancer. I can only weep with you. But I do know this – heaven makes up for everything. Rape victims and cancer patients will not be grieving and whimpering in some corner of heaven. They will be standing before the God of the whole universe in the full stature of their glorification. Every tear will have been dried. They are not mourning or crying. They are not in any pain – either physically or psychologically. The first things aren’t a dim memory – the first things have passed away. There is no PTSD in heaven!! Heaven makes up got everything because Christ paid the price for everything by His death on the cross for our sins.
Do you want to go to heaven? Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
Leave a Reply