Don't Waste Your Experiences

This week I want to share something my wife Kristen wrote. I believe this will encourage many of you and is something many of you need to hear this week in order to continue walking the road you are on. Be encouraged by this good word!

As I was organizing the girls' lunch, I felt God speak this title. In my life when God starts speaking I best get paper and pen ready, (I suffer from short term memory loss. It runs in my family... At least I think it does... Where are they?"-Dori from Nemo said it well) so all I had available and at hand was my grocery list pad of paper, in the process of preparing the girls lunch and ultimately burning my own, I started writing what came. I will take a little burnt lunch to hear what God is speaking any day... For me, I have found God doesn't always wait until the lights are just right or the perfectly harmonic music is playing in the background ( I had sponge bob on the TV and construction going on in my basement) God will speak if you are listening.

So what about "Don't Waste Your Experiences"? What does this mean exactly? We all go through something in life, some of us more than one, some several things over and over. I don't think we go through something in life to just, "Get through the Season" and go on with life, enjoying our exit out of the trial. We are to go through, conquer that "thing/things" and then in turn, help someone else. Your experience may not have been pretty, you may not want to go back there and deal with the feelings that come back up, you may be ashamed of what you went through. You may even have been a Christian that at one point questioned and was mad at God- you may have been depressed, full of fear, anxiety, went through a divorce, sick, tired, financial issues, maybe you have been through all that I have listed, well guess what? You are human, if you have been through these things and have come out on the other side, don't waste all that time getting through and not help someone else. Share how you had no faith, BUT God showed up anyway, share how you didn't think you would get through another day BUT you did. Share what helped you through, share what you learned. Were you sick and found the answer to your sickness? Have you been through financial issues and found freedom in that area through a book or program? Have you not been able to sleep but you found a sleep aid that helped? Anything, share your experiences.

Don't hide your trials in fear of peoples opinion, in fear that they may say, "Oh NO, they are a Christian and THEY went through that? They must not have been real close to God then?" I will guarantee the judgment will come, no matter what, people will wonder and think and talk about why and how you went through, have opinions on how you should have done this and you should have done that, without ever going through the same experience. Whatever, tell the story any way. Do you know how much "Freedom" you could bring to a fellow believer? To know that you too went through something just like them and that you can and will come out on the other side? Do you know how un-hypocritical it is to the world to say, "Yes I have been through some things in life, as a Christian, life has not been a peach orchard, BUT God saw me through?

"Don't go through just for you- Go through to help others too---"

If you are in a trial right now and you haven't made it to the end, let me encourage you today, you will make it through, God has something "Big" in store for you if you don't give up. In the meantime, find out what it is you need to learn and how you can help and encourage others get through so they too can experience their "Big" thing in God.   Encourage others, even if you are not being encouraged, even if you are not feeling like being positive, do it anyway.

If you see someone in a trial or even someone living a life of sin, living a life you don't agree with, don't judge them and shun them and wait for them to get through their "trial" on their own. I myself have fallen into this, so I am not "preaching" at you about this, I am talking from my own experience. As ashamed of it as I am, I have learned from my misjudgments of others. I have made "assumptions" of others and their actions not knowing the whole story or really knowing the circumstances. I have made decisions on half-truths.   I have learned that we need to Help them, reach out to them. When people are in a trial, they are not always the friendliest, most attentive, most enthusiastic people to be around. They can be annoying but open your heart to listen and encourage, they just may need someone to simply "be there" not to fix anything in particular, but just to let them know they are supported and cared for. Isn't that what all humans want? Just to know, they are supported and cared for, even when they are annoying and in a trial?

In James it says, Count it all joy.. Chapter one of James is quite awesome, take the time to read it ...... let's take the time to start building others up instead of tearing down, let's start helping others heal.  Blessings,  Kristen