I've been helping a friend who is having some marriage problems. It's been really cool to help and counsel her. It's moments like these that I realize why God has allowed so much crap in my life. It's amazing how much I'm able to pull from my own life to help her.
Marriage is difficult. It's a lot of work. It takes sacrifice. There have been times when we were close to throwing in the towel. Our first year of marriage was horrible; we barely survived. I would love to say that everything has been perfect since the first year, but it hasn't.
TD Jakes says, "The point of your greatest misery is also the point of your greatest ministry." I love that! It puts my problems into perspective. It gives my pain purpose and allows the past to bring glory to God.
So how about you? What have you experienced that you can use to touch someone else's life? Depression? An eating disorder? A messy divorce? Alcohol or drug addiction? Sexual promiscuity? A hard marriage? Whatever has happened to you; whatever struggles you have had can be used to help someone else. I guess the question is will you? Are you willing to swallow your pride and risk the potential embarrassment of sharing your junk with people? When people see church planting wives they see "Mrs. Perfect." Are you willing to show your human side or your troubled past or your struggles? I bet if you do God will be honored and lives will be changed. C'mon...take a risk. Be vulnerable. Share your story.
Featured on newchurches.com
Monday, December 3, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have a question. Do you share everything with different people, or do you hold things back. Is there such that a sharing too much? I guess your right pride can definately get in the way, and keep me from being "real". I know God can use what was intended for evil, for good. I just need to allow him to open me up to the world. So they can see I have scars too. Thanks for your wisdom.
Lyndsey
Great question, Lyndsey! Usually what happens with me is that someone that I know will have a problem and I step in to help them. In listening to their problems and struggles, I use my own story to minister to them. For instance, with the girl I blogged about, I felt like God was telling me to approach her about her marriage problems. I brought over a gift basket and we talked for a while. I offered my help with her marriage and shared how I could understand her struggles because of my own. I think sharing my past marriage issues helped to give me "validity" as a listener and friend. It's almost like because I've had problems in the past I was more "qualified" in her eyes to help her.
I definitely don't share everything. I pray for discernment with what to share and how much. I do think you can share too much, but it kind of depends on the situation and the person. If you know the person really well and trust them, then share as much as you're comfortable. If it's a new person I'm usually a little less likely to divulge too much; I just give the general/basic info.
Hope this helps. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Don't be afraid to show your scars. God brings beauty to our scars and I think one of the ways he does this is by using the scars to help other people. Keep up the good work!
Jen
Post a Comment