Last night at Legacy Baptist Church, Pastor Donnie Edwards delivered a sermon on the first chapter of 2 Corinthians. My summary of the message: God has plans for youโplans that include your suffering, your brokenness, and your struggles. But these aren’t just random difficulties; they’re divinely orchestrated opportunities to minister to others who will walk similar paths.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ
2 Corinthians 1:3 reads: “Blessed be God even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort.”
In a world where people desperately seek relief from their pain, we often turn to temporary solutions that never satisfy.
“Most people are using drugs, they’re using sex, they’re using food, they’re using broken relationships, they’re using gambling,” Pastor Donnie observed. “They’re using all sorts and kinds of devices looking for comfort, but they’ll never bring comfort.”
These substitutes aren’t just ineffectiveโthey’re dangerous traps.
“They are masquerades Satan uses to get us in a vice grip. When Satan gets you addicted, he will continue to feed that vice.” Like a clothespin pinching tighter with each attempt to escape, these false comforts only deepen our suffering rather than alleviating it.
True comfortโthe kind that heals and transformsโcomes exclusively from God. When we understand this, we stop pursuing dead-end solutions and turn to the only source that can actually handle our brokenness.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ข๐ง
When I was first finding my way to Christ, someone shared their testimony with me. She had walked a similar path to mine, and she said, “God can turn any mess into a message.”
Last night, Pastor Donnie echoed that sentiment in a different way.
“God never allows suffering that he doesn’t use that suffering for the kingdom,” Pastor Donnie said before noting that when you are facing struggles, ask three critical questions:
1. Is there a sin that needs to be confessed?
2. Is there an attitude that God wants you to change?
3. Is there a maturity that God is trying to work into your life?
These questions reveal our suffering often serves as God’s classroomโa space where He grows us, challenges us, and prepares us for His higher purposes.
Two sentences I wrote down as Donnie preached were:
1. God uses need, suffering and brokenness to prove He is faithful.
2. He allows the trials to lead to the triumphs.
Our difficulties are not punishments or signs of divine abandonment. They’re preparation. They’re purpose. They’re part of a plan that extends far beyond our immediate circumstances.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฒ
My favorite takeaway from the message was the connection between our current suffering and someone else’s future deliverance.
“๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.”
Your current pain isn’t just about youโit’s about someone you may may not have even met yet who will one day need exactly what you’re learning now. Your battle with addiction, your struggle with loss, your battles in your marriage, your fight through illnessโthese aren’t just personal challenges. They’re preparation for ministry.
Your deepest pain becomes your most powerful ministry when surrendered to God’s purposes.
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฒ
The connections God creates between suffering people aren’t random coincidences. They’re divine appointments orchestrated by a sovereign God who sees the beginning from the end.
“God will put people in your path that have something in common with you that you would have never dreamed God could have used for the kingdom of God,” Pastor Donnie explained. Like the wounded veterans who find healing in shared suffering, God connects broken people who can minister to each other in ways no one else can.
Pastor Donnie vulnerably shared his own story of contemplating suicide as a troubled teenager in Irving, Texas. Though not yet a Christian, he heard what he now recognizes as the Holy Spirit speaking to him: “I have great plans for you. Please don’t do this. This is not the answer.”
That moment of intervention eventually led to his salvation and launched a ministry that has impacted countless lives over 33 years.
“Do you know how many people in 33 years that I’ve talked to about suicide, that I’ve talked to about sex before marriage, I’ve talked to about drug use, I’ve talked to about alcohol, I’ve talked to about disobedience and rebellion?” he reflected.
His testimony powerfully demonstrates how God uses our darkest moments to prepare us for ministering to others facing similar battles. Our greatest weaknesses become our most effective ministry platforms when surrendered to God’s redemptive purposes.
๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก
A particularly poignant section of Pastor Donnie’s message addressed the reality of our spiritual breaking points. “Church, listen to me,” he said, “all of us have a breaking point. All of us have a point with whatever amount of faith you may think you have that it runs out, it runs dry.”
This honest acknowledgment contradicts the popular misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which some use to suggest God never puts more on us than we can bear. Pastor Donnie clarified: “God does put more on us than we can bear. It’s called brokenness, it’s called suffering, it’s called trials, it’s called tribulations.”
The breaking point isn’t the end of the story, however. It’s often the beginning of true dependence on God. As my notes captured: “When we focus on who God is instead of our emotions,” we find strength beyond ourselves. Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, saying they “despaired even of life” but learned “not to trust in ourselves but in God which raises the dead.”
Our breaking points become our breakthrough points when they drive us to depend on God rather than our own resources. When we reach the end of ourselves, we finally discover the limitless strength available in Him.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ
Throughout Pastor Donnie’s message, the sovereignty of God emerged as an anchor for the moments when we are tossed by life’s storms.
In my abridged version of what Pastor Donnie said, I wrote this summary: “When God is sovereign over your life… you can handle the trials (big & small) with the same faith you handle the blessings.”
This doesn’t mean denying emotions or pretending we’re fine when we’re not. It means filtering our emotions through the truth of God’s Word and the guidance of His Spirit.
Our suffering reminds us we weren’t designed for a fallen world but for perfect communion with God. “When suffering and trials and tribulations come,” he observed, “it fixes your stinking thinking. It makes you readjust. It makes you look toward Heaven.”
As Pastor Donnie concluded his message, he returned to the central truth: God has plans for you. Your suffering isn’t random. Your struggles aren’t wasted. Your story matters in God’s greater narrative of redemption.
“God uses broken people,” he said. “God uses imperfect people because they ain’t no other kind. None of us are perfect.”
Your brokennessโwhether from your own choices or circumstances beyond your controlโhas prepared you to minister to someone else who will walk a similar path. The comfort you’ve received from God in your darkest moments qualifies you to extend that same comfort to others in their time of need.
Remember my favorite takeaway: “Someone somewhere else in time is going to benefit from your story.” The pain you’re experiencing today is preparing you for a ministry you can’t yet imagine. The trial you’re enduring is equipping you to help someone you haven’t yet met.
I’ve always said, “God can turn your mess into a message to help someone else.” This isn’t wishful thinkingโit’s the divine alchemy that transforms our greatest suffering into our most powerful testimony.
So hold on through the trials. Trust in God’s sovereign plan. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through your darkest valleys. And remember that your storyโwith all its pain and triumphโis being written by a loving God who has plans for you beyond anything you could ask or imagine.
