The Bible is full of stories of the wounded and how God works through them. Some make entirely unlikely heroes. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho, but because she saw what the Lord was doing was willing to submit to it, she became a biblical example of faith and the forbearer of the Messiah himself. Mary Magdalene was a disciple of Jesus’ who had been delivered of seven demons. She was a dear friend and follower of the Lord—the last to leave his side at the cross and the first to discover the empty tomb.
Another story in the Bible demonstrates how highly God values the ministry efforts of the wounded. The demoniac of Gerasenes was a man who had experienced pain on a level few of us can comprehend. This man lived in the cemetery, right in the tombs with the dead bodies. In his madness, he ran around naked, cutting himself with stones, and crying out night and day. After Jesus healed him, he instructed him to go home and tell his family “how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” The man didn’t stop at that though—he traveled through the whole region telling his story.
Who are the wounded in your environments? How might God bring healing to them? What might he do through them?