“God doesn’t waste a hurt.” Your painful experiences maybe your ministry.

Esther 4:12-14  ¹² When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Genesis 45:5   ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

With God there are no coincidences. In the stories of Esther and Joseph we see the providence of God. God overrules the decrees of those in power, and plans of wicked people.

You are what you are not for personal convenience or even inconvenience but because of divine appointment. Your divine design is customized to meet specific needs in the grand divine plan (Kingdom of God). The kingdom of God is the grand purpose of God. In history God works through events and circumstances to achieve his purposes. You and I are part of that grand plan. He uses our experiences; our stars and scars to accomplish his purposes.

Many times when we think of God at work, we only think of the supernatural. But God works in the supernatural as well as the natural. He is as real in the ordinary just as he is in the extraordinary.

In this grand plan there is a healthy tension of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. How much is God responsible for our lives and how much are we responsible for our actions? God is fully sovereign and we are totally responsible for our actions. If you won’t do what God tells you to do no one else will do it, and yet God’s plans will be accomplished. This doesn’t mean we can’t take personal responsibility for our actions but God works through them – whether good or evil, - to accomplish his actions. He does not plan evil – he is not the author of evil, but he overrules evil to work out his purposes.

There are instances in my life that I did not like but as I look back, I realize that I wouldn’t be who I am today, if I had not gone through them. God used them as an important ingredient to shape me into what he wanted me to be.

God uses both our stars and scars to shape us for the ministry that he intended for us. Sometimes we need to take a life inventory and plot our life-story indicating our stars and scars. This would include our family background, education, spiritual experiences, professions and vocation, and even painful experiences.

Someone said that “God doesn’t waste a hurt.” Your painful experiences maybe your ministry.