Experiences significantly shape us and contribute to our unique purposes. They can also transform us for the better…if we apply what we learn from them. In the words of Jim Kwik, “Knowledge isn’t power; it’s potential. Knowledge applied is power.”
Over the last 8 weeks, you’ve been exploring your BIG PICTURE or MACRO purpose, and your unique design (micro) made up of your spiritual gifts, passion, abilities, personality, and experiences. Author Rick Warren calls this your S.H.A.P.E.:
S – Spiritual Gifts
H – Heart/Passion
A – Abilities/Natural Strengths
P – Personality
E – Experiences
S – Spheres of influence (added by me)
Today, we are going to focus on the “E” or your experiences.
When determining how your experiences influence your purpose, Rick gives us six areas to consider:
- Family experiences: What did you learn growing up in your family? (good and bad)
- Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school?
- Vocational experiences: What jobs have you been most effective in and enjoyed most?
- Spiritual experiences: What have been your most meaningful times with God?
- Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past?
- Painful experiences: What problems, hurts, thorns, and trials have you learned from?
Whether you realize it or not, your experiences shape your life and purpose in a profound way, especially the painful ones! But finding out how can take a bit of digging.
Pain Shapes Your Purpose
Rick goes on to say, “The very experiences that you have resented or regretted most of your life – the ones you’ve wanted to hide and forget – are the experiences God wants to use to help others.”1 In order for that to happen, you must be willing to share them, and that takes vulnerability.
I have several painful experiences that have shaped me and my purpose significantly, but this is probably the most profound one. When I was young, I was exposed to pornography at a young age, and I experienced mild sexual abuse from my cousin. By the time I was in college, lust – in the way of pornography and promiscuity – had become a real problem; one could even say an addiction. There were two things that helped me overcome it: a profound experience with God that brought me freedom and other people who helped me walk out my freedom. As I’ve shared about my experience over the years, both 1:1 and with public audiences, it has helped other people find hope and freedom in their own lives.
For better or worse, your painful experiences shape your purpose. Why not put them to use to help others?
Here’s where to begin. Start by listing out the six areas given by Rick Warren (above) and write out as many bullet points as come to mind for each one. Don’t filter your answers just do a brain dump. Then go back through them and highlight the bullet points you feel have shaped you most significantly. When you are done, answer these questions.
You can also do the S.H.A.P.E. Test all in one place here.
(micro) Purpose Question #9 – Experiences
What experiences have shaped me most and why? How can I put them to use to help people? Do they factor into my vocation or are they to be used in some other venue (church, community service, etc.)
Now write it in a concise statement and add it to questions 1-8.
What did you discover about yourself as you considered how your experiences shape your purpose?
Missed One?
If you missed a post, you can go back and read them all here:
- Purpose Quest Intro: When Your Purpose Seems Foggy and Unclear
- Purpose Quest 1: Dealing with Your Daddy Issues
- Purpose Quest 2: You Are Not a Waste of Space
- Purpose Quest 3: Your Purpose Is Not a Mystery
- Purpose Quest 4: You’ve Found Your Purpose, Now What?
- Purpose Quest 5: Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts
- Purpose Quest 6: Passion Inspires Purpose
- Purpose Quest 7: You Are Great at Something
- Purpose Quest 8: You Are One-of-a-kind. Don’t Waste It!
- Purpose Quest 10: Finding Your People
Endnotes
1 – Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, p. 245
*Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash
