When I was around 6 years old, I split my chin open. Whilst I don’t remember this much, I do remember mum taking me to the toyshop afterwards. She wanted to make it up to me. In fact, every time I had to get the wound redressed by the nurse in the weeks that followed, we came home via the toyshop. My mum, like most parents, wanted to bless me generously to make up for the pain the injury had caused.

Our Father in Heaven wants to make up for all our trouble here on earth. He promises that there will be a benefit and that we’ll be better off as a result of the trouble. We call this a double portion, or The Spoils of War; the profits or prizes awarded upon winning a battle.

My favourite Bible character is Joseph, sold into slavery as a boy who lost it all; his home, family and freedom. Fast forward to later on in the story, we see an amazing leader, 2nd in command to Pharaoh. God had restored double and these were his spoils of war. 
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There are times when I am filled with terror and horror, it’s the only way I can describe it. Breathing becomes heavy and deliberate and my heart races yet the sensations in my chest or abdomen are so dense I can barely move. Does this sound familiar?

Experts call this the dorsal shut down state combined with the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Polyvagal expert Deb Dana says ‘we cannot think our way to safety’ It’s an embodied experience and can’t be healed cognitively. Thankfully the power of the Word of God is spiritual, “piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow…” 

To bring me back down to that place of peace, I’ve learned to see Jesus as my Good Shepherd. Have you ever wondered why healing the the Shepherd appear together in Scripture?
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