Pastor Jentezen Franklin says the painful chapters of our lives do not disqualify us from serving God. Instead, they can become powerful testimonies that help rescue others from darkness.
During a recent “Kingdom Connection” message aired on Daystar TV, Franklin turned to Jeremiah 38, where the prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a muddy dungeon and left to die. After learning of Jeremiah’s condition, the king commanded Ebed-Melech to gather men, ropes and old rags to pull him from the pit.
Franklin used those discarded pieces of cloth as a picture of how God redeems broken lives.
“Everybody else, the world would say, ‘Throw it away,’ but the King said, ‘I have a place in my treasure for dirty rags,’” Franklin said. “I turn rags into royalty.”
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Although Jeremiah carried a God-given calling, he still experienced a season in which he felt trapped and helpless. His circumstances did not erase his destiny, however, and neither do ours.
“The past has no power to hold you hostage,” Franklin said. “God wants to use your dirty rags to lift somebody else out of a pit of depression, somebody else out of a pit of addiction.”
God does not reserve His purposes for people with spotless histories. Throughout Scripture, He restored and used people who had experienced fear, failure, sin and rejection. Their scars became evidence of His mercy.
“You are not worthless,” Franklin said. “You are washed, and God calls you worthy.”
Our testimony may be the lifeline someone else desperately needs. Those who have escaped a particular dungeon can recognize its darkness and reach those still trapped inside.
“Nobody else can reach that person like you can reach that person,” Franklin said. “Because you came out of it, you are qualified to tie the rag onto the rope and deliver those who are perishing from the pit.”
Our darkest chapters can become rescue ropes in God’s hands. As Franklin said, “Tell your story. Don’t waste your pain. Don’t let your pain be in vain.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
