Shaped, or Imprisoned???

Rick Warren impacted my own life when he developed and explained the SHAPE concept -- an acrostic that represents the aspects of the life of a believer that God literally weaves together, fashions together, or even distinctly initiates, to shape the believer in such a way that is compatible with His will and purposes for that believer. As an acrostic, it is simply each letter of the word “SHAPE” representing one of those key aspects – Spiritual Gifts, Heart (or heart passions for greater clarity), Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. In my own teaching, I have attempted to simplify Rick’s teaching by briefly explaining that God “shapes” us with ...... Spiritual gifts that are uniquely, individually, given to all believers to enable us to serve Him and others, through gifts like teaching, leadership, encouragement, giving, mercy, discernment, and still others. Heart passions that are unique to our own individuality and are reflective of the very passions He grows within us. Natural abilities such as those skills we have practiced and honed, or we have educated ourselves to become better at. Personality distinctives – introverts, extroverts, doers, thinkers, those who empathize, those who are quick to tell you “how to do it,” leaders, followers, and a whole lot more. And, our life Experiences beginning in childhood and continuing through today. Life experiences that influence us on a personal level, but they also help us to relate to the life experiences of others. God doesn’t waste anything. But we can cocoon ourselves with thoughts and beliefs that thwart the purposes God has for us. And, literally imprison ourselves within that cocoon. Michele, who writes for and gives leadership to Umbrella Ministries, says, “No matter what we face, the death of a child, divorce, mental illness, a wayward child or any trials Satan throws at us, God’s Word promises we will be more than a conqueror. So what does being more than a conqueror look like? ..... We can walk through our trials being angry and bitter. We can take what has happened to us and bottle it up and let it fester. Or, we can take what has happened and turn it into something we never thought possible. When I lost my daughter Katie, I thought my life was over. Nothing good could ever come out of such a loss. Oh, how wrong I was! The Lord has taken a wasteland of grief and turned it into a land of milk and honey." The experience of loss does not have to be the defining moment of our lives, writes Jerry Sittser. Instead, the defining moment can be our response to the loss. It is not what happens to us that matters so much as what happens in us. Sittser knows. A tragic accident introduced him to loss of a magnitude few of us encounter. In an instant, a tragic car accident took the lives of his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. Most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss, but most of us will still experience some form of loss, and many of us will know the dark places resulting from hurts, wrong choices, addictions, and again, still more. So as Jerry alludes to, how will we respond when our experiences, or even our natural abilities, passions, or personalities, seem to bring us up short, inadequate, or deeply wounded???? We could look at some wrong choices we sometimes make at this fork in the road, but it is far better to fully face what could either shape us in God’s direction for us, or imprison us with our sense of loss, inadequacy, or failure. Face it; feel the consequences we believe have been imposed, and put it all in the hands of our God with whom we can walk forward in utter dependency, and find the fullness of the plans and purposes He has shaped us with. – Bev (Related Bible reading: Ephesians 2:8-10; Isaiah 40:28-31; Proverbs 3:5,6)