Your Pain will be Your Platform

from Relentless Hope by Meghan Martinez

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:3

I once heard the phrase, “Your pain will be your platform.” For years, I’ve also heard the saying, “Your test will be your testimony.” I love catchy alliterations, but those statements are so much more than just fun, catchy sayings.

Throughout the Bible, we see people Jesus healed who went out and made a difference in their communities by simply speaking out about what God did for them. There’s the Samaritan woman who went out after a real encounter with Jesus and told her entire town how she had been changed. Blind men, lepers, and other countless stories of people who didn’t let the opportunity pass them up to proclaim the goodness of God. One of my favorite examples shows up in just two really simple verses. It’s about Peter’s mother-in-law. We don’t even know her name, but this is what happened to her:

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.

Matthew 8:14-15

I don’t even know this woman’s name, but I do know this one thing – She also didn’t let the opportunity to give back pass her by. You might think, “Well, when I see the answer to prayer, then I’ll do something.” You may even fall for the lie that you have nothing to say because your situation didn’t turn out how you wanted it to. That’s the farthest thing from the truth.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

God can take any situation and use it. I still haven’t seen the answer to my prayer, and I’ve resolved not to ask God too many questions either. One day, I’ll stand before Him in heaven (along with a choir of babies), and I’ll get my answers. But while I’m here on earth, I pray that God would use our story to encourage others that He is still good.

who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:4

My prayer is that He wouldn’t just use my story but that He would also use yours. Just like Peter’s mother-in-law, I know that God has come in and healed me. He has restored a very broken heart, and because of that, I want to serve Him. He has been faithful to me when I didn’t know if I could be faithful back and like Isaiah says, He has exchanged my ashes for beauty.

You have a platform. You have a sphere of influence that I don’t have. You never know how your faith will shape others. If you feel like you have nothing to give, that’s ok. I encourage you to keep showing up, fight to stay connected to the Word, and learn to worship God in every season.