Experiences

Time Needed: 45 minutes

“It’s great when we realize we are in God’s training program. He always adapts the curriculum to fit us. God … tailors everybody’s curriculum individually to suit His work in their lives. … When you step back and view a person’s life history telescopically, you see things you might otherwise miss.” (Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader)

Scripture Meditation:
Portions from Psalm 139
1O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away.
3You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest.
Every moment you know where I am.
4You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.
5You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!
14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.
15You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable!
18I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!

A word with God: (our objective)
“God, I see that you know all about my past. You have allowed things to happen to me that I don’t understand, but I am willing to process these things with you right now. Holy Spirit help me to see things I never saw before about my past and how these things can now work for my good in your plan."

Teaching:

Note: Many of the ideas in this teaching are taken from the book, The Making of A Leader, by Dr. J. Robert Clinton. While originally used for leadership development, I believe they have broad application for discipleship and calling.

Though God is sovereign, He rarely operates in history independently of His people. That means that God works through you and I. We are, in significant ways, shaped by our experiences, our abilities and accomplishments and the passions of our heart. This means God is involved in these two areas of our life.

Remember and Consider

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:7-8

We can imitate the lives of our leaders - biblical, past and present - by examining their lives, by remembering and considering. Will these lessons apply to us in our day? Yes! Why? “Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” His constancy and faithfulness is the ground of our hope. The same God who worked with and through these men and women can and will work in and through me.
Of course, the same applies to our own lives too. If we want to grow, then we must come to “remember and consider” God’s work in our lives. The same God who was with us in the past will continue to walk with us in the future. One of the things, then, that will be helpful in understanding our life and assessing our gifts and calling is to develop a sense of our “personal time-line.” The exercise at the end of this session will give you opportunity to see how God has been at work in and through you in the past, important parts of your timeline, as you look towards the future.

Think in Terms of Stages
If life is a journey, then it can be helpful to think of the different seasons of our life as stages or legs of the journey. We move progressively through these stages as we grow and mature, in life and/or ministry.
The initial leg is foundational. In it, God powerfully and mysteriously works through our family, environment and historical events to mold and shape many of the basic contours of who we are as individuals. God is at work through all our experiences, good and bad, usually behind the scenes. We may not always be able to see how many of these things come together until later in life. Most of these circumstances were outside of our control, but we still have a “job” - to learn to respond positively to what God is doing and has done.
The second leg of the journey typically begins around the time of our entrance into life with Jesus and is a time of more intensive inner-life growth. We begin to develop a personal relationship with God, and begin to learn and grow in many of the skills necessary to sustain that relationship. During this time we often face tests to our integrity and faithfulness; will we obey and submit to God and His ways or listen to the voice of the world and its mode of operation? These tests shape us. Faithfulness leads to further growth; failure leads to further tests in the future. God will give us plenty of opportunity to grow and succeed – He wants us to grow. So don’t be afraid if you feel like you’ve failed a big test with God. He wants us to grow into maturity, and like a loving parent, will help us to do that very thing. While some ministry tasks might be done or explored during this stage, the main lessons learned will be interior ones. The emphasis is on inner-life growth and developing a regular pattern of intimate, obedient, life with Jesus.
The third leg of the journey is where we begin to enter into ministry, maturing as we discover more of our spiritual gifts, receive formal and informal training in ministry, and experiment with different ministry forms. Our focus during this phase will often be on what we’re doing, especially what we’re doing for others. But fruitfulness in our activities and ministry is not the primary focus of these first three stages – God is primarily working in the disciple, not through him or her. “The amazing thing is that during Phases I, II, and III, God is primarily working in the leader. Though there may be fruitfulness in ministry [and other activity], the major work is that which God is doing to and in the [disciple]. Most [growing disciples] don’t recognize this. They evaluate productivity, activities, fruitfulness, etc. But God is quietly, often in unusual ways, trying to get the [disciple] to see that one ministers out of what one is. God is concerned with what we are. We want to learn a thousand things because there is so much to learn and do. But He will teach us one thing, perhaps in a thousand ways: ‘I am forming Christ in you.’” (Clinton, The Making of a Leader)
The final two stages involve life maturity and convergence. In them, the disciple lives and serves with power and authority as they fruitfully serve God and the world in the area of their calling in keeping with their spiritual gifts and developing sense of priorities. “In the long-haul, God is preparing you for convergence. He is conforming you to the image of Christ, and He is giving you training and experience so that your gifts may be discovered. His goal is a Spirit-filled [disciple] through whom the living Christ ministers, utilizing the [disciple’s] spiritual gifts.” (Clinton, The Making of a Leader)

A Few Closing Thoughts
Does this mean my whole life revolves around “ministry”? Do I need to be a pastor? No, not everyone is called to be a pastor. But remember, all of life is ministry. Ministry is much more than what we do in the church; in fact, most ministry (and most of the best) happens outside of the walls of the church’s building, and outside the times of “official church events.” Our life experiences and abilities have shaped us for these ministries and are many of the tools we’ll use for them.
What about the painful experiences of the past? What about the times that I’ve done stupid things which seem to have been a detour on the road to life with God? The only way we’ve gotten to where we are today is by having gone through where we’ve been in the past. Let me address the second question first. Remember this – the kindness of God leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). So, if you need to, spend time in confession and repentance with God over the sins of your past, which may or may not have hindered you in your walk with God. If you have confessed and repented, then realize that God has forgiven you and He remembers them no more (Jer. 31:34). Painful experiences are difficult. They are challenging moments in our life, almost always outside our control, often inflicted upon us. It may be difficult for us to understand, but God sees us and knows us even during these times. Actually, because of the intense nature of these types of experiences, a particularly painful experience may be very important in shaping and forming us as people. In this way, God may be very involved, though indirectly, in these circumstances. A full treatment on this topic is outside our scope here, so if you have more questions, I encourage you to bring it up with your assessment counselor. Joseph, from the bible, might be an example to us. You’ll find his story in Genesis 37, 39-50. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, because he told them how God had revealed himself to him about his destiny. Eventually, there was a famine in Palestine and Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt looking for food. To their surprise, Joseph was not dead but second in command of all Egypt. Rather than exact vengeance on them, Joseph said this to his brothers, “And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. … God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Gen. 45:5-8) Joseph could not have fulfilled his destiny and carried out his calling from God without having gone through the painful experience of being sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph’s faithfulness and obedience to God in the midst of those painful circumstances is what enabled them to have positive formative influence on him, so that he became the man God called him to be. He ministered from who he was. “Call connects us to places of pain in the world and is often connected to places of pain in ourselves.” (Todd Hunter, "Calling, Mission, and Gifts: How They Integrate In A Disciple’s Life") Because God longs to redeem the world and heal it of its brokenness, God’s call sends us out into the painful places of the world. We connect with the world in its pain through the places of pain in our own lives that are being redeemed and healed by God.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Exercise: List Your Experiences

Highlight various accomplishments and/or learning moments in each of the seasons of your life. Be sure to include accomplishments and learnings at work, home, school, etc. Also, pay particular attention to those things you enjoyed doing, those things you think you did especially well, or those things for which you were given positive feedback.

As a child and as a teenager


In my 20’s


In my 30’s


Complete up to the Present


Do you notice any particular trends in your accomplishments? What are they?


My Painful Experiences
(these are the kinds of trials or problems I could relate to and encourage others in)


My Educational Experiences
Where I attended (am attending) school and favorite subjects:


Other educational experiences, including seminars, etc.:


Other Formative Experiences from Work or Hobby


Previous Ministry Experiences (if applicable)