Understanding triggers is complex and difficult if you have never experienced them. I had left my parents house and was headed back to my apartment when I heard this whoosh noise. Then I lost acceleration followed by my steering. I was able to get the truck to the side of the road. When I opened the driver side door flames came shooting up from underneath the vehicle. I jumped out and within two minutes the entire truck was engulfed in flames.
A week later, I was at a bonfire. My insides started to shake. I wanted to run. I didn’t know what was happening. I just knew I had to get away from the fire. I went into the house to calm down. I had been triggered. My reaction had nothing to do with bonfire. My body had learned fire couldn’t be safe and it wantedme to get away. I was slowly able to retrain my nervous system and enjoy bonfires again.
In understanding triggers, it’s important to know that it can be a full body reponse that brings extreme panic and anxiety. They can also be subtle. They can be a quick wave of emotion that rolls over you. You simply pause an wonder, ”What was that about?” And, they can be anything in bewteen.
The message is that we don’t have to simply live with them. God promises to do thoroughly clean out our historical garbage.
28-29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire! (Hebrews 12:28-29 MSG).
He has given us tools to renew our minds and retrain our nervous systems. He provides trained professionals to guide us into a new way of being. We need to trust Him and not settle for a less than existance. This trigger was easy to work through while others have taken a long time. They are, however, less often and less intense. I’m still a work in progress, and God’s not finished with me, yet.
What is your understanding of triggers? How do you experience them? Have you worked through them? Do you trust God to lead you to a new place of wholeness? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.