"Trouble don't last always, but trauma last for awhile," Bishop T.D. Jakes shared during an ad council event to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence among the faith community.
Jakes revealed that he borrowed the above phrase from [Bishop] Vashti McKenzie, adding that this is the reality that we are living in.
"And the Church is more needed now than ever before to treat the residue of trauma. We're seeing it in an escalation of murders. We are seeing it in an escalation of divorce. We're seeing it in an escalation of spousal abuse. Trauma takes on a lot of forms. And it's one thing to hear it as a word, but when you see it in the behavior of people, sometimes we don't really associate their behavior with the isolation that preceded it, the fear and the frustration, the loss of jobs that preceded it," he shared.
"The Church is needed more than ever before. The Gospel is needed more than ever before, and finding ways that we can minister to the souls of men, the emotions, the mind, memories in a holistic way. If you're not sleeping right, if you're not eating right, if you're having digestive issues ... it may be coming from suppressed trauma that may not be showing outwardly but may be eating you up inwardly. Ministry is very helpful," he continued.
"David said, 'no man cared for my soul.' The doctors can care for your body, but the Church cares for your soul. So whether it takes therapy, counseling, but most of all ministry to get you to well, that's what we want to see happen."
