That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
Romans 8:21-29 (The Message)
“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.”
Aldous Huxley
Rick starts this section of Day 31 in The Purpose Driven Life by saying that God allowed our experiences to happen for the purpose of molding us. Once again his Calvinist approach to God’s micromanagement comes through. I’d rather talk about God using the experiences of our lives to bring new purpose and direction.
We’re given a list of experiences to consider as we look at how we serve God:
Family Experiences
Educational Experiences
Vocational Experiences
Spiritual Experiences
Ministry Experiences
Painful Experiences
Again, Rick writes about God intentionally allowing us to go through painful experiences to equip us for ministry to others.
I vividly remember sitting by the coffin of my eighteen month old daughter as a ten year old boy from the church struggled to make sense of her death. “Perhaps God has made this happen so you can support other people who are grieving.” In response my wife and I explained that we didn’t have to find a reason for her tragic death. We were sure that God could have found other ways to help us grow in that ministry of supporting the bereaved. But we were sure that God could bring meaning and purpose out of this time.
It’s the difference between ultimate sovereignty and absolute sovereignty. I don’t believe that God says ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to every minute detail of my life or anyone else’s. But I do believe that God says ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to the big picture.
Rick refers to Paul’s honesty about his suffering in Asia Minor as expressed in 2 Corinthians 1: 8-10. If Paul had kept quiet about his doubts and depression, millions of people would have missed out his acknowledgment of pain, suffering and failure as part of life.