It is a misconception to think that God causes all experiences, we know all to well that moment when we felt we shouldn’t do something or when we made a decision that went against our wisdom, only to blame God for the consequences. When the reality was that we were going against His Word, going against His promptings. However, while He does not necessarily create every circumstance, if we will allow Him, He will never waste one either. Experiences, good or bad, often drive vision. Vision is imperative for you to live as the masterpiece God created you to be. (Check out blogs at LifePalette.com on vision)
A great illustration for a vision is the story of a man who was hiking through Europe and stumbled onto a construction site. He went up to the first worker and ask what he was building, the worker responded: “I’m just breaking stone.” He asked a second guy the same question, he answered: “I’m just making a living.” He then approached a third man and asked what he was building, he responded by describing what the cathedral they were all working on would look like when they were finished. That’s vision!
The tension that most people wrestle with is that you want vision to drive your life, yet the tyranny of the urgent (breaking stone, making a living) continues to keep you derailed. Here are 3 things you can do to assure God will use all your experiences for His good in your life as His masterpiece:
1. Trust God To Take Your Circumstances And Give Them Meaning
You’ve probably heard the phrase: “work and act like everything depends on you, pray like everything depends on God.” That is a great philosophy for approaching less than ideal circumstances in our lives. In other words keep doing the right things no matter how you feel and pray for God to show you how He can use them in your life, in other words to give them meaning. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Rom 8:28 NLT)
God is an expert at taking all the circumstances that we trust into His hands, and making something good come from them, giving them meaning. Look at what He did with the murder of His son Jesus, He literally changed history! If you will allow Him to be the artist of our lives, He will take everything in your past and give it meaning. He will birth a vision in your life, He will cast a different shadow of meaning, and He will take every circumstance and use them to be a part of His masterpiece.
2. Trust God To Step In After You’ve Done Everything You Can Do
Most visions die because you don’t know “how” to see them come to pass. Do all that you can and trust God to step in and fill the gap. If God gives you a “what” – that is to say a vision – and you already know “how” to see it come to pass, it’s probably not a good idea or a God idea. You can typically figure out the “how” of your own good ideas. As His masterpiece God wants you to see what only He can do in and through you.
Good idea – you are limited to your resources and your potential.
God’s ideas – are unlimited because of His resources and His potential.
Good idea – you’ve got to get in there and make it happen.
God’s ideas – you will be able to watch what God makes happen and say – “wow”!
3. Trust God By Getting Equipped
Part of your responsibility is to get and stay equipped. I’m often surprised in my world when I ask Pastors about developing their skill as a speaker. The typical response is that they know how to speak; they’ve been doing it for years. Without saying it or even knowing it, they think they are perfect at what they do. Whatever your chosen career, position yourself in such a way to realize there is always room for growth and improvement. Read books from others in your chosen career who are further down the road than you, take their workshops or go to their seminars. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you have a degree you are already equipped – culture changes very quickly. Get equipped and continue to get equipped. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Eph 2:10 NLT)
I know you are busy and tired. Perhaps you are dealing with the stress of aging parents, not enough finances, raising kids and numerous other daily stresses…carve out sometime today and ask God to help you have the courage and strength to trust Him with all your experiences. Ask Him to weave all them into a vision for your life as His masterpiece. If you will allow Him to He’ll take all your stuff, all your experiences – good, bad and ugly – and transform them to use them for His glory and honor.
Next Steps For Your Experiences:
Pray this prayer: “Lord Help Me to See People the Way You See Them and Burden Me with What Burdens You”
