Your life experiences are a piece of the puzzle that makes up your ministry profile that God uses to prepare you for serving and give you perspective in it. What you believe about God will help determine how you handle your life circumstances … past, present, and future.
Will you wallow in self-pity over what has happened or rise victorious and let Him use what has happened to you to minister to others? Will you question His love and doubt His plan for your life or will you trust in His sovereignty and rely on His faithfulness? Will you use your life circumstances as an excuse for not serving or will you step out in faith relying on His grace and power?
Read the following Scripture and consider how this kind of God is capable of using both the good and bad of your life to His glory as you serve Him.
Ps. 139:1-16a - He is fully aware of what is happening with us. Nothing that happens escapes His notice. He is omniscient, all knowing.
Ps. 139:16 – He pre-determined our days. He is sovereign.
Ps. 139:17-18 – He cares so much about us, He is constantly thinking about us. He is loving.
Rom. 8:28 – He always works on our behalf. He is good and wise.
Rom. 8:31-39 – He holds on to us no matter what happens. Nothing can separate us from Him.
2 Cor. 1:3-4 - He doesn’t remove trouble from our lives but is with us through it, giving us all we need to rise above. He is the provider.
Resources to Help You Work Through Reactions to Your Life Experiences:
Books on letting go of the past
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I am trying to understand some of life’s ups and downs. I pray to God. But I don’t think I’m praying the right pray when I pray at night, or morning.
Thanks.
I am glad you are looking to God to try to understand life, Jacquline. He certainly has the power to help us through the ups and downs. And, He has reasons for allowing different things to happen to us.
Though He has all power, He does not always use it to change our circumstances. But, He will give us peace as we walk through both the ups and down. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You (God) will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Though He has purpose in all He does, He does not always tell us why things happen the way they do. He does not always tell how all these things fit together and how they will work together for the good to those who love Him as promised in Romans 8:28. Sometimes no matter how or how often we pray, we will not get all the answers. These are the times we need to simply trust the heart of God that He truly does have our good at heart. In Jeremiah 29:11 God told the Israelites, “For I know the plans I have for you, … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” That is His heart for us as well.