Marc Estes

I was reminising about our last trip to Kona, Hawaii and came across a picture of a plant growing up through the volcano lava field. I thought it was a great analogy of how God can bring new life out of trials and tragedies that come our way. We all have faced, or will face trials. God can use everyone of them for our good.  

There is purpose to our lives, greater purpose than happiness alone. Throughout our lifetime, God will allow or divinely place circumstances along our journey that will put us face to face with certain issues we are to resolve. How we respond to these trials is of the utmost importance. Charles Swindoll says, “I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”

The Bible substantiates this point in 1 Peter 4:12: “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (MSG).

Not all life experiences are meant to be bad. There are times (hopefully many) when God allows us to experience His goodness through His favor and blessings. Maybe you were mentored by a great man or woman of God, and that experience played a role in shaping you. Or you might have attended a great college or university, and that experience helped shape you into who you are today. Maybe you were raised in a wonderful family environment, founded upon a solid foundation of biblical morals and values. These are some of life’s most positive experiences. The bottom line is that God intends to use every life experience, whether good or bad, to shape you into a person that is fully able and prepared to fulfill their purpose. Over the years, I’ve developed a working definition of what I believe a life experience is:

“Life experiences are certain events or seasons that God directs or allows for you to acquire knowledge, character, and understanding that can be used to benefit you and others in future situations and ministry opportunities.

Day after day, we will face trials, tragedies, and triumphs that we can’t control. We can allow these circumstances to bury us or choose to step up and shake it off. The choice is ours for the taking.  I suggest we allow these life experiences to help us make sense of who we are and where we’re going.

These life experiences are only a part of our entire design and are intended to be the refining and strengthening agent of our other components. The previous four chapters have defined the four major components that are placed in our lives by our Creator. Passions, spiritual gifts, talent and abilities, and personal makeup are woven into the fabric of our lives. Life experiences are different in the sense that they are external factors that are placed in our lives by God to refine us. This refining process works to develop godly character in our lives as well as to place us in certain experiences that further shape us into a God-shaped vessel, perfectly crafted for our purpose. After a while, we begin to see that easy isn’t necessarily synonymous with good and difficult isn’t necessarily synonymous with bad. Sometimes the tough experiences have the greatest refining effect in our lives.

Here are a few benefits to consider next time you are going through a difficult Life Experience:

                • Make you more like Jesus (1 Pet. 4:12–13).

                • Give you compassion to minister to others (2 Cor. 1:4).

                • Draw you closer to Jesus (Ps. 34:18).

                • Create a greater dependence on God (2 Cor. 1:9).

                • Make you a stronger person (Rom. 5:3–4)

                • Are tools used in fulfilling your purpose (Gen. 50:20).

                • Promise you a better life (Heb. 12:11).

                • Give you a better perspective on life (Duet. 8:4-5)

                • Make you more humble (Heb. 12:10).

                • Achieve eternal glory (2 Cor. 4:17).

How refreshing to know that God has taken great interest in our lives! We haven’t been left alone, but have been set on a course to accomplish great things during our lifetime. He guides us, directs us, disciplines us, challenges us … all because He loves us. Our responsibility is to set our sights on our purpose, to not lose heart, and to never give up.