I heard the crack of the glass vial inside the plastic tube as it was bent. The children had been given glow sticks to play with as it was getting dark outside, but as they were handed out, the dull plastic sticks didn’t appeal to them as we had expected. The purpose for which they were created could not reach its full potential in their present state, but as the children bent the sticks, which broke the vials inside, chemicals that had been hiding were released and mixed, triggering a response that produced a glow. This glow now had an appeal that attracted the children’s attention and drew them in. However, the tube had to be broken and shaken up to become all that it was created to be – a light that would draw others in.
Sometimes traumatic things occur without warning, and these events cause a deep brokenness that is difficult to understand and challenging to get over. The deeper the wounds, the longer they take to heal. We see the devastation the wounds bring as insurmountable, shattering our present and future. At times like these, we wonder what the purpose could be for our pain and why God has left us alone.
Wounds can occur with the decline of our health, the loss of someone we love, the disappointment in a friend or family member who turns on us, the physical pain of an assault or accident, addiction, the loss of a marriage, or abuse. These wounds can occur physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They can be external, visible to anyone, and difficult to hide, or internal, and torment us in isolation, causing anxiety, fear, and depression. The wounds can also be spiritual in nature and occur with church hurt or spiritual abuse.
Joseph felt the pain of being wounded. The book of Genesis tells the story of his suffering but also of God’s purpose and Joseph’s triumph over the trials he faced. Joseph was wounded in every area:
• Joseph was physically wounded and abused in his kidnapping and his two-year stay in an Egyptian prison. Genesis 41:1 “when two full years had passed….”.
• Joseph was emotionally wounded and abused as his integrity was challenged when Potiphar’s wife unjustly accused him of inappropriate behavior in Genesis 39:19: “This is how your slave treated me, and he (Potiphar) burned with anger.”
• Joseph was spiritually wounded by his brothers hating him for the favor of God on his life. Genesis 37:8 “and they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” God’s favor was upon Joseph, and because of this, he suffered as jealousy arose in his siblings.
The emotional wounds Joseph suffered were profound and long-lasting, scarring and changing his perspective. However, Joseph did not waver in his faith. Even after he suffered numerous trials and obtained a myriad of wounds that began with the betrayal of his own siblings, Joseph told his brothers when they returned to Egypt, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). God had been watching. God would use every wound to further his kingdom in His sovereign design.
God used Joseph in several ways to fulfill His purpose in drawing others to Him, and He does the same for us. Here are five ways God will use our pain:
- God used Joseph’s wounds to relocate him. God used Joseph’s painful experiences to move him into the place where he could use him. He lived in Canaan, but God needed to use him in Egypt. Genesis 37:1-2 says, “Jacob settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.” Genesis 37:28 “Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they lifted Joseph out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, who took him to Egypt.” It took a traumatic event to move Joseph into place for God’s purpose.
Sometimes, God uses our trauma to move the pieces of our lives around, clearing the path we are to walk. He will also use our painful experiences to move us into a different place, in front of a specific audience or into a particular environment, so that He can use our lives to impact others and draw them to Him.
- God used Joseph’s time of wounding to refine him. Joseph’s ability to hear God’s voice was refined in his time alone. He had no one else but God while in the pit. He had no one to trust but God when he was taken captive to Egypt. God used this time to free him from the things that bound him, while giving Joseph time to build his trust in God’s faithfulness. His faith was tested, his patience tried, and he was put into situations that required him to develop and refine his humility. A purifying of his faith increased his closeness toward God and increased his sensitivity to His voice and hand as discernment was refined.
God does the same in our lives. Our wounds refine our faith, getting rid of the pride that holds us to an independent faith in ourselves and moving us toward a more dependent faith in the God who carries us through the trial.
- God used Joseph’s wounds to help him become resilient. Joseph learned to wait. He spent time in the pit waiting for rescue while expecting to die. He spent years in prison, waiting to be released while expecting to be there indefinitely. But God always intervened as Joseph witnessed His hand at work in the details. Joseph learned to wait and be resilient because He had witnessed the faithfulness of God in the painful experiences. Genesis 41:52 shows that Joseph understood and internalized the faithfulness of God when he named his second son Ephraim, which means “it is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
God teaches us to wait while wounded. The skill of waiting has to be experienced before it can be understood and mastered. We can then pass that skill onto others, testifying that God was faithful to us and will be loyal to others. We can testify to His goodness if we will just wait.
- God used Joseph’s wounds to hone his skills. God used Joseph’s time alone in the field to teach him to hear God’s voice. As he spent two years in Potiphar’s house, he learned to administrate and manage many important tasks because Potiphar left his household in Joseph’s charge. Genesis 39:4 says, “Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted everything he owned to his care.” He was given great responsibility and had to learn a strong work ethic, leadership, and administrative skills, even as a slave, having been placed in bondage to Potiphar.
God will use our wounded places to build and hone the skills we need to walk in His purpose. Our wounds will give us opportunities to learn to problem-solve, to become peacemakers, to find a positive perspective, and to develop a heart of gratitude, even in the darkness.
- God used Joseph’s wounds to strengthen his empathy. Joseph experienced rejection and abandonment and knew the emotional impact they had on his life. He knew what it was like to be hated by his family and unfairly judged and unjustly blamed when not guilty. But God had allowed the wounding of Joseph to create an emotional sensitivity to others, even to the ones who had abused him. Genesis 43:30 says that Joseph was “deeply moved at the sight of his brother. Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep.
God also uses our wounds to strengthen our ability to understand the pain of another. No one understands pain like someone who has experienced it. A trust is more easily fostered in someone who has had the same painful experiences, as they typically show patience and compassion, having walked the same path. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says that we are to “comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.”
We may be wounded, broken, and bruised but have a purpose. Our pain is not wasted but wisely crafted by a God who has been watching. Not one minute will be wasted, but the pieces will be woven together to create something new and purposeful. Jeremiah 18:4 says that “the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” We were wounded while still in His hands, and he will rework our wounds, giving us what we need to reshape our lives into another pot, with a new purpose, to draw people to Himself.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Stavros Constantinou
