Be Grateful for Your Journey: Trusting God’s Shaping Process

Your painful experience is not the whole story. In this message, we explore how God uses the journey, not merely individual moments, to shape His people and lead them towards His intended outcome. Drawing from Jeremiah 18, James 1, Deuteronomy 8, Psalm 66, and Isaiah 48, this episode will help you appreciate your experiences, thank God for the path, and trust Him for the fruit of the journey.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Beyond the life is a journey. Beyond the journey is an outcome God intends to produce. Good morning and welcome to this expression of igniting your day. My dear friends, there is something the Lord has been teaching me, and it is that we must learn to appreciate Him for our journey. Many times we focus so intensely on our individual experiences that we forget those experiences are part of a larger journey. Your experiences are real, they are valid, they matter, they cannot simply be denied. However, no matter how real an experience may be, it is still part of a journey. When we focus only on what happened to us, we may lose sight of what God is doing through the journey. We may become so consumed by the pain, disappointment, fear, or confusion of a particular moment that we fail to recognize the shaping work taking place in our lives. Today, the Lord is inviting us to look beyond isolated experiences and appreciate the journey. As believers, we all go through different situations and challenges. Some are easy while others are difficult. Some have significant consequences, while others may appear relatively insignificant. Some have caused us to fear, while the apparent simplicity of others has made us presumptuous. Some experiences eventually become understandable, many others still appear mysterious. Whatever your experience has been, one truth remains constant and must be accepted. God has sovereign authority to shape his people. The Lord said in Jeremiah chapter 18, verse 6, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hands, O house of Israel. This suggests that many of the experiences we pass through take place within the context of God's shaping work in our lives. You may be facing a deeply disturbing situation, but that situation has not removed you from the potter's hands. It may exist within the context of a shaping journey through which God is working in your life. Perhaps you are having difficulties with people around you. They may misunderstand your intentions, misinterpret your expressions, or repeatedly take offense at what you say. The experience may be genuinely painful, but even that pain can become part of the shipping journey. You may even recognize that some of your difficulties resulted from your own negligence or poor decisions. Nevertheless, your situation does not surprise God, nor is it beyond his wisdom and ability to redeem. Yet the journey remains under God's sovereign rule because he has authority to shape his people. This does not mean that every painful experience is directly caused or sponsored by God. It means that when we remain in the porter's hand, the journey of which that pain has become a part remains under his sovereign oversight. So this morning, beyond our individual experiences, whether welcomed or unwelcomed, enjoyed or regretted, there are three things for which we must learn to thank God. One, our experiences, two, the path God chose to take us through. And number three, God's intended outcome for the journey. We often focus on the experience, yet our experiences are neither isolated nor insulated from the path God has chosen and the outcome He intends to produce. Your experience did not simply appear in isolation, it occurred along a particular path, and that path is leading towards an intended outcome. Therefore, we will thank God for what we experienced. Nobody can deny that it happened. Nobody can take away what we went through or dismiss how deeply it affected us. But we will also thank God for the path that brought us through those experiences. Beyond that, we will thank Him for the outcome he intends to produce. You see, there is a difference between the path, the experience encountered on the path, and the fruit that comes from completing the journey. God had an outcome in mind when he allowed you to walk that path. The journey produced certain experiences, but the experiences were never intended to become the end of the story. It will be unfortunate to remember only that you suffered while missing the outcome God intended to produce through the journey. The experience is important. You have found it difficult to interpret what others are saying about you, and others have struggled to understand what they see in you. The Lord wants you to recognize that your experience is one thing, but the journey He's taking you through is another. Take your mind beyond the immediate experience. The experience may have been painful, it may have been harrowing, it may have left you confused or wounded, but begin to look at the journey. Knowing how well you are doing cannot depend solely on how you feel about a particular experience. A correct assessment of your progress depends on your understanding of the journey. You may have looked at your experiences for too long, however, you cannot properly determine whether you are progressing by evaluating only the pain of the moment. You must understand the journey. That understanding will help you recognize what God is forming within you. It may even become part of the maturity you have been asking God to produce. Your experience is part of a journey, and the journey has an intended outcome. James chapter 1, verse 2 to 4 says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations. Knowing these that the trial of your faith works patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. Notice the instruction count it all joy. Think about the experiences that made you cry. Think about the nights you wet your pillow with tears. Think about the situations that made you regret certain relationships or decisions or encounters. Think about the experiences that caused you to ask, Lord, why did you allow me to meet this person? Or why was I placed in this situation? The instruction of the scripture is not to deny the pain, it is to count it all joy because there is something beyond the experience. There is a journey. Therefore, say in your heart this morning, Lord, I count it all joy because I now understand that my experience is part of a greater journey. Yes, some experiences caused people who did not understand your labor to ridicule your results. Some caused people who knew nothing about your private battles to speak carelessly about you. Nevertheless, thank God, we are all growing. We are beginning to understand that it is not only about the experience, it is also about the journey that gave birth to the experience. There is no better response to the revelation that your experiences are part of a journey than to count it all joy. God is not a time waster, count it all joy. God is not a life waster, count it all joy. God is not an experience waster, count it all joy. The experience may have brought pain, but count it all joy. It may have produced regret, but count it all joy. Perhaps you recently went through something deeply bitter and you prayed, Lord, I do not want this experience to be weighted. Please, wasted, please grow me through it. This understanding may be part of the maturity you have been asking God to produce. Maturity is the ability to count it all joy, even when you remember how much you cried. It is the ability to count it all joy, even when you regret what happened. You count it all joy because you now understand that the experience is one thing, but the journey is another. Hallelujah. Wow. I feel blessed. I feel blessed by what I'm sharing with you. Friends, your experiences cannot be denied. They are factual, they represent what you saw, they represent what you felt, and they represent what you endured. However, the experiences came along a particular path. Psalm 66, verse 10 to 12. It says, For thou, O God, hast proved us. Thou hast tried us as silver is tried. Thou brought us to the net, thou laced affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. The psalmist said, We went through fire and through water. That describes the path. The fire was real, the water was real, the affliction was real, the pressure was real, but the passage does not end with the fire or the water. It ends with God bringing his people into a place of fulfillment and abundance. This tells us that where you are right now does not have to be your final destination. There is an outcome to the journey. Ecclesiastes 7, verse 8 reminds us that the end of a matter can be better than the beginning. Romans chapter 8, verse 18 teaches that the present sufferings cannot be compared with the glory God will reveal. Jeremiah 29, 11 reveals God's intentions to give his people hope and the future. These passages help us understand the journey. The path may have included fire, the path may have included water, but God did not design the journey to end there. Therefore, thank him for the path this morning. We do not deny our experiences, we simply recognize that the experiences occurred because of the path we are taking. The experiences occurred because of the path we were walking. We now understand that our experiences are not isolated from the path God has set before us. Even if this understanding is new to us, it is evidence for growth. We said this morning, thank you, Lord, for the path. Thank you for the path you chose for me. The path may not have been comfortable, but it was not purposeless. The path may have been painful, but it was not empty. The path may have been confusing, but it remained under the supervision of the portal. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. We have thanked God. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We have thanked God for our experiences. We have thanked God for the path, the journey. Let's thank God for the outcome He intended to produce. Psalm 66, verse 12 says, We went through the fire and through the water, but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. That statement, as we read earlier, reveals that God has an intended outcome. Where you are now may not look like it. What you are currently experiencing may not resemble fulfillment, but God's intention is not to leave you permanently trapped in the fire or overwhelmed by the water. Isaiah chapter 48, verse 17 to 19 says, Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou should go. Oh, that thou hast hearkened to my commands, then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. Thy seed also has been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof. His name should not have been out of, should not have been cut off rather, nor destroyed from the folly. Friends, we often emphasize verse 17 that God teaches us to profit and leads us in the way we should go. But the succeeding verses reveal something more. They show us what God intended to produce through his direction. His intention included peace like a river, righteousness like the waves of the sea, descendants like the sand, and a legacy that would not be destroyed. Whether the Israelites fully responded to God's instruction or not, the passage reveals God's intention. God was not leading them without purpose. God is not unjust. He does not take his people through a journey without an outcome in mind. Many times we misinterpret our journeys because the immediate experiences are too painful. We become so occupied with what happened that we fail to recognize what God intends to produce. But God has an outcome in view. Isaiah 18 17 shows us that the intended outcome was connected to obedience. Oh, that thou hast hearkened to my commands. The journey does not only call us to endure, it calls us to pay attention. Therefore, our response must be: Lord, as you lead me through this journey, help me pay attention to your instructions. As we pay attention to God, his peace becomes like a river. A river flows. In the same way, the peace God produces in us should not only remain within us, it should touch the people around us. The peace of God that surpasses human understanding can flow through our lives and bless our homes, bless our relationships, bless our communities and places of service. The passage also speaks of righteousness, like the waves of the sea. Waves are visible, they rise and cannot easily be ignored. In the same way, God intends the evidence of our growth and well-being to become visible. Paul told Timothy to give himself wholly to his calling, so that his progress will be evident to everyone. God's work in us should eventually become recognizable. Your progress will not remain permanently hidden in the name of Jesus. Isaiah 48 also speaks of descendants becoming like the sand and offerings becoming as numerous as its grains. This points to multiplication. There is an outcome God desires that goes beyond your personal survival. The journey is not only about what God produces in you, it is also about what He produces through you. For me, this connects deeply with the calling to create an enabling atmosphere in which people can pray and relate to their Father. The prayer is that many men and many women will embrace this vision and take their respective cities for Jesus through prayer. It is that many people will develop the grace and skill to make it easier for others to seek God. Hallelujah. This means we are not only praying that our legacy will remain, we are praying that the people we raise will remain, grow, multiply, and also raise others. The outcome of the journey is multiplication. Why don't you rejoice in this truth this morning, brethren? That your journey is not a waste. Your tears are not the whole story. Your disappointment is not the whole story. Your regret is not the whole story. Your misunderstanding is not the whole story. Your failure in one moment is not the whole story. There is an experience. There is a path. And there is an intended outcome. God is not wasting your time. God is not wasting your life. God is not wasting your experiences. Remain in the porter's hand. Pay attention to his instructions. Allow patience to complete its work. Remember how he preserved you. Thank him for the path and trust him for the outcome. Yes, trust him for the outcome. Lord, I thank you for my experience. I thank you for the path you chose to take me through. And I thank you for the outcome you intend, both for me and for every listener who is listening to me this morning. Thank you, Heavenly Father. Yes, my dear friends, that will be all for now. I do appreciate the time spent to listen to this edition of Igniting Your Day. I am wishing you this morning an amazing day ahead. God bless you.