I saw something on X this morning that stopped me mid-scroll.
A man wrote about asking God why He went through so much darkness. And God’s answer was simple:
> “So you know the way out when I send you back for the others.”
I sat with that for a long time.
Because that’s not a greeting card verse. That’s not something you stitch on a pillow. That is a battle assignment.
The Verse Nobody Finishes
Everyone knows Isaiah 54:17 — “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
We love that verse. We quote it. We put it on t-shirts. We claim it like a magic spell when life gets hard. Like God’s word is some sort of incantation that’s supposed to magically save us from ever experiencing anything really tough.
But can I be honest with you?
I think most of us misread it.
We treat it like a force field. Like nothing bad should ever touch us. And when it does, when the marriage falls apart, when the diagnosis comes, when the phone rings at 2 AM and your teen is down at the police station, when you lose something you can never get back, we look at God sideways and think, “I thought no weapon was supposed to prosper.” The depression starts. Our faith gets messed up. We struggle to make sense of it all.
But that’s not what the verse says.
It doesn’t say no weapon will be formed. Weapons will absolutely be formed. They’ll be sharpened. They’ll be aimed. Some of them will hit you so hard you’ll wonder if you’ll ever get back up.
The promise is that they won’t prosper.
They won’t have the final word. They won’t define you. They won’t destroy the purpose God planted in you before you took your first breath.
Destroying it is a choice.
Do you think God didn’t know you were going to experience absolutely everything you’ve gone through when he called you? When this hardship hit you did God look at Jesus and say, “oh shoot, I wasn’t anticipating that.” No ma’am. No sir. He knew exactly every single day of your life, every decision you would make, every decision that others would make that affect your life, and he still called you, still equipped you, still chose you. Let that sink in. Nothing takes Him by surprise.
What Doesn’t Kill You Doesn’t Just Make You Stronger — It Makes You Qualified
Here’s what I’ve learned — Every dark season has a diploma in it.
Every valley has a map in it; a map you’ll need later when someone you love is standing at the edge of that same valley, shaking, unable to see the path.
You’ll see it. Because you walked it.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says it plainly:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Read that again slowly.
He doesn’t comfort you so you can sit in a comfortable chair and feel better. He comforts you so that you can comfort others. The comfort isn’t the destination. It’s the equipment. It’s the armor He’s strapping onto you before He sends you back into the fire; not for yourself this time, but for someone who’s still trapped in it.
This Is Why I Do What I Do
I didn’t team up with Project Milk Carton because I read a statistic. I didn’t join them because I’m some untouched, never traumatized, never emotionally injured, perfect specimen of all wisdom and capability. I jumped on board because I’ve experienced darkness and unbearable struggle. I know what it looks like. I know what it smells like. I know how scary it gets when you think nobody’s coming. I’ve known what it feels like to literally think, “I’m about to die.”
And then THE Someone came.
And when He pulled me out, He didn’t say, “you’re too broken”, “you should have done better” or “you’ll never be usable again for anything of real value”. No, in fact He said, “Now use those new muscles and go back in for the others.”
There are over 400,000 children in America’s foster care system right now. Many of them are in the dark. Some of them are in places so dark that most adults can’t even bring themselves to think about it, let alone talk about it.
But I can think about it. Because I’ve been in my own darkness. And I’ve chosen to allow Got to enable me, to heal me, then through His empowerment, to not permit a single moment of those experiences be wasted. I’m going back in to pull others out.
Your Scars Are Your Credentials
I’m talking to you, the person reading this who’s been through something you’ve never fully told anyone about. Or maybe you’ve shouted it from the rooftops but you still feel shame over. You still feel wounded. Maybe you feel unequipped or incapable. Maybe you doubt your ability to navigate or traverse life’s difficulties because you feel like you should never have experienced defeat.
That’s just not reality. Every person experiences trauma they never wanted to experience. The typical human experiences four traumas in their lifetime. Some people experience WAY more. Even Jesus himself experienced deep, horrific, and tragic traumas in the 33 years he walked this earth. His response was not to remain in depression, anger, dysfunction, victimization, or fear. He chose to get up off the mat and grow in strength, wisdom, character, and longsuffering for the sake of…well…YOU. And me. He took what the enemy meant for evil, and he used it for good.
You’re not broken. You’re not disqualified. You’re not “too damaged” to make a difference.
You are exactly the person God has been preparing for this moment. God didn’t wish evil on you. He didn’t want hardship for you. But He most definitely crafted a way for you to use for His glory what the enemy intended to throw at you and take you out of the fight.
Your scars aren’t something to hide. They’re your credentials. They’re proof that you survived something that was designed to destroy you — and it didn’t prosper.
So what are you going to do with that?
Are you going to sit in the comfort God gave you? Or are you going to take that comfort, turn around, reach into the darkness, and pull someone else out?
This image here: A warrior woman. Look at a few things with me. First, no one looks that pretty in battle. Scale back the model level beauty, the pretty braids, and the youthfulness. Battles are fought by all of us in every age group and every body shape and size.
But I do want to focus on what she’s wearing, what she’s wielding, and the obvious battle wounds and mess. Yes, this is a stock photo. I thought it was a good one to drive this point home. Think of the wounds and the dirtiness as the trials you suffered through. Likely her muscles are spent, she’s tired and thirsty.
What I like is that she’s STILL holding her sword. She didn’t drop it.
The word of God is your sword. Never lay it down and leave it sitting, collecting dust.
Her eyes are closed and her head is bowed.
Never stop taking all your burdens to the Lord in prayer.
Her armor is on.
Never walk into battle without it. Optimally, you can put it on before battle, or you can do it the hard way and start dressing while on the battlefield. I recommend the first choice.
In the coming days, we will discuss the power of your armor in a way different than most people discuss it. For now, draw strength from this fact. God is not finished with you. In fact, He’s just getting started.
Go Back In
I don’t know what your dark season is or was. I don’t need to know. God knows, and He kept you alive through it for a reason.
The question isn’t “Why did God let that happen to me?”
The question is “Since I went through this, who is God preparing me to rescue?”
Because someone, somewhere, is in the exact valley you once walked through. And they need someone who knows the way out.
That someone is you.
Go back in for the others.
PS: A sneak preview of next week’s “Cornerstone” devotional:
The question asked above: “Are you going to sit in the comfort God gave you?” That’s necessary sometimes. Next week we will unpack that aspect of God’s heart for you.
Melody Jennings is the Director of the Project Milk Carton Foundation. She writes about child welfare, faith, psychological warfare against your mind, and what happens when ordinary people decide to fight for children who can’t fight for themselves.
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