A Message from Pastor Steve Goode
Have you ever looked back on a painful season of your life and wondered why God allowed you to go through it?
Maybe you lost someone you loved.
Maybe you walked through a divorce.
Maybe you battled addiction, depression, or fear.
Maybe you made choices that brought consequences you still carry today.
And perhaps you've asked the question that so many hurting people ask.
"Lord, what good could possibly come from this?"
I don't pretend to have an answer for every painful circumstance.
And I certainly don't believe we should casually tell hurting people that everything happens for a reason, as though that explanation somehow makes their suffering easier.
Some things in this fallen world are simply heartbreaking.
But I do believe something with all my heart.
God can bring purpose out of pain without making the pain itself good.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, Paul describes God as the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
He explains that God comforts us in our afflictions so that we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received.
Think about what that means.
The comfort God gives you in your suffering may eventually become the very comfort someone else desperately needs.
When I lost my father on August 25, 2000, I experienced a kind of grief that changed me.
I struggled with things I had never struggled with before.
I understood what it felt like to be immobilized by circumstances beyond my control.
And while I would never have chosen that experience, it changed the way I understood other people's suffering.
Sometimes, before you've walked through a particular valley, you think you know what somebody needs.
You have the Scripture ready.
You have the advice ready.
You know exactly what they should do.
Then one day, you find yourself in that same valley.
And suddenly, you realize that sometimes what a hurting person needs most is not a lecture.
They need someone who will sit beside them.
Someone who will listen.
Someone who will pray.
Someone who won't make them feel guilty for hurting.
Sometimes the greatest ministry begins with the words, "I've been there."
That's one reason I believe our personal testimonies matter so much.
A person who has struggled with addiction may be uniquely equipped to encourage someone who is trying to break free.
A parent who has walked through a difficult season with a child may understand another parent's fears in ways others cannot.
Someone who has experienced profound grief may know how to sit quietly with a grieving friend.
And somebody who has battled anxiety may understand why simply telling a person to stop worrying is not especially helpful.
Now, none of this means we should glorify our suffering or make our past mistakes the center of our identity.
In Ephesians 4:22–24, Paul calls believers to put off the old self, be renewed in their minds, and put on the new self.
Our identity is in Christ.
We are not defined by the worst thing that happened to us.
And we are not defined by the worst thing we've done.
For those who belong to Jesus, there is forgiveness, renewal, and the possibility of a different future.
But here's where I want to challenge you.
Perhaps you've been asking God to explain your suffering when He is inviting you to use what you've learned to help somebody else.
Maybe there's a grieving person you need to call.
Maybe there's a struggling teenager who needs your encouragement.
Maybe there's somebody recovering from addiction who needs an accountability partner.
Maybe there's a person sitting alone in church who needs someone to notice them.
You don't have to have every answer.
You don't have to share every detail of your past.
You don't even have to be completely healed from every wound before you can show compassion to someone else.
You simply need to be available.
At Northside Baptist Church, we have opportunities every week to demonstrate the love of Christ to people who are hurting.
And I wonder what might happen if we began looking at our experiences not simply as things we've survived, but as opportunities to serve.
Don't misunderstand me.
Your suffering is not a debt you owe to other people. You are allowed to heal. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to receive help.
But when God opens a door for you to encourage someone else, don't automatically assume you have nothing to offer.
Your testimony may be exactly what that person needs to hear.
Because sometimes the very place where you were knocked down becomes the place where God uses you to help someone else stand.
You may have been struck down, but you were not destroyed. And God is still able to use your life for His glory.
Pastor Steve Goode
Northside Baptist Church | Greensboro, NC
northsidegreensboro.com
