God has a plan for your life and a purpose for your future.
No matter what you’ve been through or what’s been done to you, if you’re still breathing God isn’t finished with you yet! Sometimes we just need to be reminded. Other times we need to be persuaded to believe it’s true.
In her new book, Your Life Still Counts, my friend and author, Tracie Miles shares how she convinced herself that God couldn’t use her. There were too many things she had done wrong. But over time as Tracie came to know Christ she realized she was the perfect candidate for His transforming power. Through her brokenness Jesus could show off His grace and goodness. The very things Tracie believed “disqualified” her from ministry are now some of the most impactful parts of her life’s mission and message. Today, I invited Tracie to share some encouragement I think all of our hearts need to hear:
“Have you ever felt like you had nothing special to offer God? Like maybe He doled out the spiritual gifts to everyone else and forgot to give any to you? If so, I want to challenge you to think again.
God has divinely designed a unique purpose for your life. And, you are the only one gifted to fulfill it!
But, before we can discover and embrace what God has gifted us to do, we need to do a little looking back instead of just looking forward. The reality is that God has equipped us to minister to others through the experiences of our past.
But most of us don’t want to look back. We want the past to be the past, and keep trudging ahead. We don’t think about mistakes or hurts. We’d rather bury them in our hearts than talk about them with God, much less anyone else.
But when we do that we prevent our faith from fully blossoming, and we get caught up in trying to figure out how our skills and talents might serve God. What if instead, we look back and discover how our life can serve as a shining testament of His power?
We need is more than gift-assessment; we need a life-assessment to help us discover how our journey has equipped us for God’s divine purposes.
With each situation you have experienced or endured, you have been equipped to serve God.
Your experiences have been used by Christ to strengthen you and your faith. And now He is calling you to be an example of what He is capable of doing. Not just a witness for Christ, but a witness of His power in your life. Because your life matters to God, you do have something of great significance to offer Him – and it’s you.
No one can tell your story of healing, redemption, and purpose like you can.
Even if your experience is similar to someone else’s story, your perspective of what happened and your witness to the power of God’s intervention will be different and unique.
Second Corinthians 1:4 says, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” Your experiences do not nullify your purpose in life; they prepare you for the purpose God destined you for. They do not void you from being able to participate in ministry, but instead they equip you for it.
Your life-change, healing, faith walk, and journey of transformation could be the story that reaches the broken heart of someone who has lost hope; someone who feels like their life doesn’t matter; someone who has never believed there is a God.
No one is equipped, trained, or qualified to share your story and your faith journey except you.
You are unique. Your experiences are unique. Your story is unlike any other.
Only you can glorify God through your one-of-a-kind design by bringing comfort to others as you allow your past to become the foundation of your personal ministry. When surrendered to Christ, your past experiences will become your most profound equipping and training.
As we gather with people this Thanksgiving and Christmas, let’s look for opportunities to love on them, share our hearts and our stories, and be open to how God wants to us for His divine purpose to bring hope, comfort and love to those around us. And let’s make our lives count for Christ!
YOUR LIFE STILL COUNTS
Enter to Win
We are giving away 4 copies of Your Life Still Counts! Two of you will win two copies (one to keep and one to give away)! To enter to win, simply share your thoughts about today’s post and let us know who you would give the second copy to! [If you’re reading this via email, please click here to enter to win! All entries must be on my blog under this post.]
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I too feel as though my past disqualifies me for all that God has. But I refuse to believe that everything that I have been through is in vain. I want my experiences to help someone else over the mountain they really struggling with. Each and every day I pray for God to place me in front of people that need to hear my testimony. If I win the drawing I would share the other book with, Pat, a dear friend and sister in Christ that has the same trouble of believing God still has a plan for our lives no matter our past. We stand together in prayer all the time and I feel this book will propel us into the destiny God wants us to take. Thank you and everyone have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.
I would love to read this book, together, with my friend, Heidi. I gave her my copy of A Confident
Heart Devotional when she needed it. I know I have issues that I get stuck in and this book would help me. Sharing it with a friend is a double blessing.
I REALLY need this book! I would be sooooo excited if I won! It would be a great help to me in my daily struggles, and also for one of my close friends!
thank you for this! I feel right now so unqualified! Thank you for turning my thoughts around!
L
What a powerful testimony. I can so relate to Tracie’s story. For most of my life I felt like I had no value. Thankfully, God put an inspiring Sunday School teacher in my path that taught me the value in being transparent about those ugly parts of our life. When we get the courage to finally start “speaking out loud” about these not so nice parts of our past, it opens the door for God to not only heal our heart, but it gives others around us the courage to start speaking about their personal hurts….so God can then start the healing in their life. I am continually amazed at how God speaks through me to touch other hearts (as He continues to heal me). Would love to share the book with another sister-in-Christ in my “Forgiveness” bible study group.
I struggle with this every day and do brogue that one day I’ll tell my story but I haven’t seen victory yet. Praying for that!! I’d give the second copy to my sister 🙂
“Your life-change, healing, faith walk, and journey of transformation could be the story that reaches the broken heart of someone who has lost hope; someone who feels like their life doesn’t matter; ” is something that really struck me. I am currently on a very difficult healing journey and many times I have felt that my life doesn’t matter. I hope at some point God will use my unique experiences to help people through a tough time in their life.
This resonates with me and where I’m at now
Thank you so much for this encouraging post, Tracie and Renee. I’ve been really struggling with what purpose my life has, so the title and description of this book really draw me in.
I would give the second book to someone who, like me, still struggles with past abuse and feels so insignificant.
I need to know that my life still counts and can be used for sonething good. I still struggle ti forgive myself from past sins even though I know He has forgiven me. Thank you for the book, looking forward to reading it. Blessings!
Satan is so good at bringing up our past and throwing it in our faces. I can be going along just fine and then out of nowhere something from my past invades my thoughts and the guilt and shame return again as big as life. I have to just start talking to the Lord asking Him to keep Satan from having that control over me. I also know that many of my mistakes have brought me to where i am today which is closer to the Lord. Praise God that once we accept the salvation and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus He gets rid of those sins as far as the East is from the West never to think of them again and if we allow Him to He will help us to channel those mistakes into something positive that can be an encouragement and influence on others. We just have to trust Him. I still struggle with my self confidence though and feel that i can never measure up spiritually to others. I have a BFF that i would love to share a copy of this book with. She has trouble forgiving herself and at times it really gets a hold of her even stunting her spiritual growth as it can do in each of us.
i have a past with drugs my grown kids know about but i still feel guilt for doing it not a good mom that really makes me mad at my self and if i win a book will share one with my daughter
As I continue my struggle to determine my purpose and self worth – It was encouraging to read the words “he isn’t finished with you yet”. My sins have caused consequences I did not expect – nor do I want. But I do know God can use me to help someone else. Praying He sill do that. Praying to find peace within this storm. Praying for redemption and healing in my marriage. Praying for a way to love myself again.
Thankful for God’s grace – and second, third, and fourth chances to learn His ways.
I am a brand new women’s ministry leader at my church and God has been impressing on my heart the importance of using our stories to help and comfort others. My story is filled with a lot of sadness and hurt and I have been afraid to share it until now. Recently, God has asked me to share my story at our spring women’s conference in March and I am going to obey even though I’m nervous. I know God wants to use it for his glory. Thank you for confirming that my story matters and God will use it. If I should win my second free copy will go to my sister who shares a similar story. I pray that through this book she will begin to see God’s goodness in the middle of our story. Thank you for this, Renee and Tracie. May your families be blessed by the sharing of your stories this Thanksgiving.
Patricia – God will do big things in a lot of hearts through your obedience to share your experiences and allow Him to turn what the devil meant for evil into something that glorifies Him and reaches many hearts. Good luck in the spring and expect God to show up in amazing ways!
I was really made interested in this book when I read about the need for a life assesment. I would like to win the books and I would give the second one to my sister.
Thank you for the reminder! Going thru a redirection In my life and know that it’s God redirecting but the enemy tries everyday to pull me down. It’s brought me closer to Him, praise God and learning to keep His promises near. I want my life to be His plan not mine and know that the desires of my heart were placed by Him and will come to fruition in His timing. His ways are so much better! Would give the 2nd book to a lady I just started mentoring so we could go thru it together.
This is the 3rd time in less than a week that God has brought me this message of needing to look back at my past and what He has done in my life, in order to move forward in His will. First, it was in a sermon on my church about fear and looking at our past experiences with God to give us the confidence to move forward into where He is calling us. Then in the Bible study of Max Lucado’s book, Before Amen, where he talked about remembering the miracles from God in our past. And now here. Can’t wait to read Tracie’s new book! If I won 2 of the copies being given away, I would send the 2nd copy to a gal whom God brought into my life through online Bible studies and who is going through a particularly rough time and struggling to believe her life counts.
This really hit home to me; so much that I cried. In 2001, my Mother passed away. My husband and I drove 660 miles to see her, say our goodbyes before she passed. On my way to the hospital; she passed away. I missed saying goodbye and kissing her by 20 minutes. I was the only family member who didn’t make it in time. For so long; I cried to God that he would forgive me; that my Mom would forgive me yet I couldn’t forgive myself. My wonderful Lord gave me a dream where I saw my Mom, saw her smiling, saw beautiful rays of orange/gold behind & around her. That day brought peace into my life. 13 yrs later; an elderly man visited his wife’s grave everyday; just sat and stared @ her grave no matter what the weather. Our Lord pressed upon me to pray for this stranger. He started telling me how he couldn’t forgive himself; that he just knew his wife wouldn’t forgive him as he had put her in a nursing home and had promised he would never do so. So, 13 yrs later; God allowed me to share my pain, my story with this sweet man, encourage him and pray with him. As I left him; he thanked me, hugged & said he loved me; a total stranger. All glory and all of my heartfelt thanks goes to Jesus! I don’t have to win a book. If this blesses anyone else; it is so worth it. Sorry that this is so long!
Lyla – it certainly blessed me and made me tear up! What an incredible example of extending love and hope to someone out of what we’ve learned through our own struggles and emotions. You made a difference in that man’s life, and I bet he paid it forward. God can do big things when we trust Him enough to do the little things.
” Your experiences do not nullify your purpose in life; they prepare you for the purpose God destined you for. They do not void you from being able to participate in ministry, but instead they equip you for it.”
About two weeks ago I saw an e-mail come through with a guest post by Tracie Miles. Those words were powerful, as were her concluding remarks about being “especially unique and specially adored by God,” and trusting Him “enough to surrender your past to him.”
I find myself in a place where I have trouble imagining how my future could be used for Him, much less my past.
I would like to share the second copy with another person posting here.
Would love to win a copy for myself (retired, widowed, grown children – do I still count?) and for my best friend (divorced after 42 years of marriage). I would want to read it with her as a book study. Thanks for the chance to win!