Years ago, I was walking down a country road with three Christian friends. We were talking and joking with one another, having a good time. Just as we neared a clump of trees, I became unaware of our conversation and found myself engrossed with sounds unlike any I had heard before; the trees were praising God. One friend noticed that my mind had gone to another place and asked me what was happening. I told him about the trees singing and praising God, but he couldn’t hear a word.
Throughout my Christian life, I have had experiences similar to this. Plants and flowers have spoken to me, and birds have sung for me. And these things happen suddenly, out of the clear blue. Once I had been feeling bad for a few weeks, and a bird told me I had diverticulosis. I asked my wife what diverticulosis was, and she said the word didn’t exist, but there was a word diverticulitis. That same evening we found out that the bird was right and my wife was wrong; diverticulosis was a word. — Just for the record, I’m not saying birds are more intelligent than wives. 🙂
Yes, God has been gracious to me and given me these experiences, but recently He has revealed that things like these go on all the time; trees praise Him; birds sing for Him; the entire creation, having been subjected to futility, anxiously waits for the revealing of the children of God, in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption. And just as we groan to be set free from our mortal bodies, so also, the creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth, that it also might enter the freedom of the glory of the children of God. And, until the day arrives when a new heaven and a new earth appear, the creation will continue to offer praise and adoration to the Father of glory, just as we do.
So, why do I see these things when others don’t? I’m not sure, but I believe it may be because I have PTSD. It is a known fact that people with PTSD have heightened perceptions. They tend to see and sense things that ordinary people miss. They are more in tune with their inner being than the average person. These heightened perceptions show themselves in many ways, such as when one senses a threat. A person with PTSD will perceive a threat long before an average person and feel it far more deeply than the average person. When a person with PTSD is hurt or falsely accused by another, he, or she, will become overwhelmed with pain and doubt for days, weeks, months, or years, while an average person will walk away from the situation.
A person with PTSD lives in a world of doubt, worry, helplessness, hopelessness, fear, aloneness, horrific nightmares, and extreme mental anguish. But there’s a bright side to all this: With the proper treatment, these symptoms can become somewhat controllable, relieving the stress. This is wonderful.
But there is one thing more wonderful than this: When a person with PTSD offers himself or herself to the Son of God and walks with Him in humble obedience, things unimaginable can begin to happen. Because of the heightened perceptions resulting from PTSD, there’s a very good chance that person may see things that most people only dream about. The Lord might very well lead him or her down a path strewn with divine delicacies that are meant only for the broken; delicacies that can raise one to a place where trees praise God, birds sing to Him, and flowers and plants know you by name; delicacies that, when tasted, reveal the deep things of God.
Oh, dear ones who have been abused and cast aside, take heart; the sun of righteousness has risen with healing in its wings, its rays dancing upon a river of life from which you may drink. The good Shepherd stands on the banks of this river, His arms of the cross outstretched to welcome you and lead you home. O, how blessed are you who are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven; how blessed are you who mourn, for you shall indeed be comforted.
Your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom; you may dare look away from yourself and unto Him; you may dare lay your cares at His feet and follow Him, as He leads you into His rest — you may dare refuse defeat — I tell you from experience — He weeps for you.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
jondavidbanks.com 