ords of condemnation rang in my ears day and night, and my constant cry to God was, What shall I do to be saved?"¹

"I couldn't be sure that God was appeased by my satisfaction. I did not love, no, rather I hated the just God who punishes sinners."²

While Ellen White was alive her prophetic voice called people to embrace a loving and merciful God. Even after her death her voice continues to speak to millions through her inspired writings-especially through such Christ-centered classics as Steps to Christ and The Desire of Ages.

Three centuries prior to her prophetic ministry, Martin Luther's declaration of sola scriptura (by Scripture alone) and sola fide (by faith alone) called people away from the culture of Catholicism and its salvation by works theology that dominated the world at that time.

But these giants of faith, who continue to challenge me in my Christian experience, did not always understand the true character of God. And they did not always experience the righteousness that comes through faith. Yet when they accepted and embraced the grace of God, they did not then stand high and lofty in their prophetic pulpits and pretend to "have it all together." They instead chose to bring healing to God's people by identifying the suffering in their own hearts and making that the starting point of their service to God's people. They healed from their wounds.

The Wounds of White and Luther
Both White and Luther focused on righteousness by faith and its centrality to the gospel. But righteousness by faith for them was no mere theological point to be debated, dissected, and diagrammed. This focus came from their personal, intense, agonizing struggles to grasp the true character of God and to obtain the assurance of salvation. The message of righteousness by faith was the lifeline for their souls. And when they were finally able to take hold of it, they hung on for dear life! Their wounds fueled their message.

Ellen White describes the darkness of soul from which she emerged. She felt that her sins were too great to be forgiven. She would pray all night at times in anguish of soul. Darkness enveloped her, and there seemed no way out of the shadows.³

She shared how the ministers of her day dwelt on the image of a stern, tyrannical God. Her response to this was "If [only] the love of God had been dwelt upon more, and His stern justice less, the beauty and glory of His character would have inspired me with a deep and earnest love for my Creator."⁴

Martin Luther's view of God was also that of a stern, unrelenting judge, a cruel tyrant, rather than a kind, heavenly Father. He would lie down at night trembling at the thought of such a God. At 22 he entered a monastery, hoping to find peace of mind through the ascetic practices of the monastic life. He would often go without sleep, endure cold without a blanket, and whip himself. In continued efforts to find peace, he would spend up to five hours a day confessing his sins.⁵ Yet despite his efforts he could not find peace.

Ellen White heard God's voice of love and acceptance spoken through a faithful follower of Christ, Elder Stockman-someone who knew the true character of God. She would later say, " My peace and happiness was in such marked contrast with my former gloom and anguish that it seemed to me as if I had been rescued from hell and transported to heaven."⁶

Martin Luther found peace through his study of Romans 1:17 as well as through the guidance of his spiritual father, Johann von Staupitz, who "first caused the light of the gospel to shine in the darkness of his heart."⁷ After Luther embraced righteousness by faith, he stated, "All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates."⁸

The Power of Our Wounds
When we make our wounds the starting point of our service to others, we become what Henri Nouwen calls "wounded healers." We are taking our wounds and using them to heal others.

An old Talmud legend tells of Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi coming upon Elijah the prophet while he was standing at the entrance of Rabbi Semeron ben Yohai's cave. . . He asked Elijah, "When will the Messiah come?"

Elijah replied, "Go and ask him yourself."

"Where is he?"

"Sitting at the gates of the city."

"How shall I know him?"

"He is sitting among the poor covered with wounds. The others unbind all their wounds at the same time and then bind them up again. But he unbinds one at a time and binds it up again, saying to himself, 'Perhaps I shall be needed: if so I must always be ready so as not to delay for a moment.'"⁹

The following pages will propel you into the world of the wounded. These wounded healers of today, like Ellen White and Martin Luther, have responded to the call to unbind their bandages. It is not an easy task. It requires courage. It requires vulnerability. Yet it is this that the Lord experienced for us, and it is what He bids us to do:

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isa. 53:5, NIV).

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12, NIV).

Are you a wounded healer? It's not too late. The path to walk with the wounded contains no start or finish lines. You may enter at any time.

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¹ Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 1, p. 23.
² Martin Luther at www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/tower.txt.
³ Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 25.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Art Lindsley, "Profiles in Faith: Martin Luther," C. S. Lewis Institute Quarterly Newsletter, Spring 2002, p. 16.
⁶ Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 25.
⁷ "Luther and Staupitz," www.bible.org/docs/history/schaff/vol7/schaff92.htm#E12E22.
⁸ www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/tower.txt.
⁹ See Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (Garden City, NY.: Doubleday, 1979), p. 81.

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Bonita Joyner Shields is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.