Unfinished

I recently led a Bible study using the book Unfinished by Richard Stearns. The premise of the book is that we all have unfinished stories that need to be surrendered to God so they can be used for His unfinished work - to reach every nation and tongue on earth. (Matt. 24: 14) We encouraged each other to memorize Jesus'/our mission statement (Isaiah 61: 1 - 3), to grow in intimacy by committing to spending 30 minutes more with Jesus each day, and to think through our individual stories to share at the culmination of the class. To say that I was blessed by this group of women would be an understatement. I can't wait to see how each one of us is going to impact the world for Christ by spreading His love to those with whom we come in contact.

As each of us shared our stories and how we see God leading us into our calling, there were some themes and truths that came up over and over. I asked the women for permission to share these truths and since none of them are specific to any one individual, everyone agreed.

So here is what I learned from this brave group of women:

-We all have residual effects of having grown up with broken, sinful parents, siblings, teachers, and friends - the people close to us who loved us and cared for us.  This gives me hope as I parent my children because God is there in the midst of my failures. He will use the broken people in my past just as He will use my brokenness in my interactions with those I love.  

-At some point in our lives, we need to recognize that we have a choice - to be bitter and angry about things that happened in our past, or to seek healing and forgiveness, and to move on. We can become bitter or angry or continue to believe the lies that are rooted in childhood or we can allow God to heal and work through them. It's often not a one-time experience but is the ever-going work of God in our lives.

-Bringing our stories to the light reminds us that we are not alone. Satan likes to keep our stories hidden so he can use them against us and feed us lies about our inadequacies and brokenness. But darkness cannot be found in the light!

-What we see on the outside of each person we meet hides so much! Remembering this will change how we interact with others.

-It’s when we move from “knowing about God” to “knowing God” that He can start to use us for His glory. We have to pursue Him. There is no other way. Related to this, it’s okay that we don’t completely understand God.

-God is faithful!

-God is an amazing, creative Author and every single story is good!

-Nothing is beyond God’s redemption!

-God uses our brokenness and blesses it. One person said it this way: God holds our brokenness under the blessing of our belovedness.

-Our greatest desire should be to see God glorified - no matter what comes our way.

-To God, everything in my life makes sense. Nothing is insignificant. And I don’t have to try to figure it out.

-I am a child of God!