Used experiences.....

Used experiences.......

For as long as I can remember, whatever experiences has come into my life, they have later been tools to talk to or more important, listening to others about similar situations....

I heard a phrase used recently, "what you have gone through prepares you to go forward". It has been replicated several times In the  last few weeks in various ways In my life....so maybe there is a message there for me!  

Nothing is wasted...in our lives

Move out of your comfort some...

Move into your ministry zone....

Listen to others...

People have been entrusted to you....

People are watching how you are responding ......

Give someone in need a hug....

Where do find your greatest joy/ passion??

What are you called to do?

What is God preparing you do to?

Again, questions in my soul, heart and mind????

Have you ever heard them???

Reading about different people in the Bible, again and again, God prepared them for their place/ ministry/job/life journey ahead.  He gave them different gifts, experiences which would eventually help others, lead others, care for others .....even as we read now...we are encouraged...our path may be completely different, but there is still the preparation...

Many times that preparation is not something I would intentionally choose....pain hurts...emotional pain is deep ......so deep ......so gut wrenching that i don't want to experience it ......but if the verse..."joy comes in the morning" is true, that must mean there was night or no joy before....

Moses was met on the mountain top , I think because there were going to be a lot of valleys or hard times in the  valleys below...desert...but God met him there til he glowed with God's glory....then moved forward....he led sheep in preparation...of leading people...how good is that???

But, pain can propel us forward, reaching for the non pain....which could be working with others who may have gone through or are going through life experiences that god wants us to be a part  of, walking , maybe even sitting with...

Life experiences, talents, spiritual gifting, personality styles are all useful and used by God...when we lay them at His feet ....He can choose....empower....build up....equip....

Thank you , even in the pain, that You use us, if we are willing, in others lives....we are vessels.....tools...channels of Your love,

1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-11
[ Concerning Spiritual Gifts ] Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed..4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Romans 12:4-11
 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.