WHEN PAIN BECOMES PURPOSE

Luke 4:18–19 (NKJV) 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

INTRODUCTION

Upon Jesus’ ministry initiation. He launches his mission statement. Every ministry needs a mission statement. Its about what you are out to accomplish, what is your mission.

He declares:

I am here to proclaim to good news

I am here to heal the brokenhearted

I am here to set free

I am here to restore vision

I am here to release from bondage

I am here to declare the Kingdom

In other words Jesus was about healing people. That is what He did. He healed people…

Last year, I ruptured a bicep muscle. (explain) I thought to myself. When you break an arm, everyone sees the cast. But if you are broken on the inside, no one sees it. You just carry the pain silently.

That’s what trauma is: it is a wound on the inside. But Jesus declared in Luke 4:18 “He sent me to heal the brokenhearted”

Trauma is real, but its not final. God heals broken hearts and redeems broken stories.

Explain about the story of Joseph

I. Trauma happens to all of us

Genesis 37:23–24 “So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.”

A. Context -

Joseph, the son of Jacob was his fathers favorite son. All the other sons he had to carry on his legacy, but Joseph was the Fruit of love that Jacob had for Rachel.

Joseph’s dad had given him a coat of many colors. This coat represented identity and future.

Joseph’s brothers grew more and more jealous of Joseph and tore the coat from him and threw him into a pit.

B. Trauma often comes through betrayal, rejection, or even sudden loss. When trauma happens It can seem like a pit you didn’t see coming.

C. What Trauma Does:

Shakes your trust in people

Plants fear about your future

Whispers lies: “You’re not loved. You’re not safe. You’re not valuable.”

D. Joseph’s story proves that even when people push you into a pit, God still has a plan to pull you out.

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

II. The Enemy Uses Trauma to Chain Us

Genesis 39:20–21 “And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

A. Context -

After being sold into slavery by his brothers his captors take him to Egypt where he is bought and put to work in the house of Potiphar.

Joseph served faithfully in his masters house. Because Joseph was faithful Potiphar prospered.

After serving faithfully under Potiphar, he is falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison.

Now Joseph goes from favored son to Slave to now a prisoner, through no fault of his own.

B. This is how the enemy works. He takes trauma and layers it with lies and to chain us down:

Chains become excuses for our sinful behavior.

Once you recognize you are bound by trauma, healing can begin.

C. How the enemy uses trauma:

Fear: replaying the pain again and again

Shame: Convincing you the trauma defines you.

Bitterness: Poisoning your heart against people and even against God.

Hopelesness - whispering, “This is all you’ll ever be.”

D. But notice the key phrase: “The Lord was with him.” God’s presence was not absent in Joseph’s prison, and it’s not absent in your pain.

Your trauma may explain what happened, but it does not decide what happens next.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

III. God heals trauma and redeems the story

Genesis 50:20 – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

A. Context:

While in prison Joseph meets to men who were under the Kings authority. The baker and the cupbearer. (Explain)

After years of betrayal, slavery, prison, Joseph rises to power in Egypt.

When famine hits, the same brothers who betrayed him come begging for food.

Instead of revenge, Joseph offers forgiveness and declares that God used the pain to save lives.

B. Healing doesn’t erase the memory, but it removes the power of the trauma to control you.

God transforms wounds into weapons, scares into testimonies.

C. Joeph named his sons Manasseh (God made me forget my hardship) and Ephraim (God made me fruitful in the land of my affliction)

That’s your story too. God doesn’t just bring you out; He makes you fruitful in the very place you were afflicted.

D. How does God heal trauma:

Presence: “The Lord was with Joseph” in every season.

Perspective: God reframes your pain into purpose.

Purpose: Joseph said his trauma positioned him to save lives. What hurt you can become what God uses to heal others.

D. What hurt you can become what heals others. What broke you can become the very thing that God uses to build your future.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Conclusion - The God Who Heals

Pain will either chain you to your past or propel you into your furure.

Like Joseph, you can declare: “What was meant for evil, God has turned it for my good.”

Joseph’s story show that the darkest pits can become stepping stones to the highest purpose.

You are not what happened to you. You are who God says you are. I AM CHOSEN, I AM HEALED, I AM DESTINED.

Isaiah 61:3

New Living Translation Chapter 61

3 To all who mourn in Israel,

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the LORD has planted for his own glory.