Do you not really know until you have lived it?

Whenever a women talks to my wife about having a baby I seem to find myself giving advice.  I know this not because I realize I am doing it but rather when my wife and the lady she is talking to look at me and you can see them say “Really?” with their reaction. 

My wife and I have talked about this and she asked me how I could give any advice on what it is like to have a baby?  When my wife asked me this I have to say she is right.  I’ve lived with her during pregnancy, I’ve help raise children, but I have never had a baby in me.

This sounds crazy but when you think about it, sometimes you really do not get the complete meaning of something until you have lived it.  You can have an idea but until you live it you really do not have a complete understanding.  Could my wife give perfect advice on what it is like to be a man?  No!

The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.  Numbers 32:13 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 (NIV)

When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?”  They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”  2 Samuel 12:19 (NCV)

I had an opportunity to stay on the edge of the Sahara Desert.  I woke up in the middle of the night and was gasping for water.  The way my body felt was something I had never experienced.  When I realized what was going on I thought about what Israel must of felt like wondering with such extreme conditions.

The passages of wandering in the wilderness, loss of a baby or even a son, say it in the Word but until you have lived it you cannot even comprehend the true depth of pain.  Or what about baptism, Holy Spirit driven direction, true repentance, seeing a healing, friend dying, being married for sixty years or being single all your life.  Until you have been there you are just a spectator!

What I am getting at is this.  You have your story and no one else’s.   Focus on that!  Your pain, your success, your life!  This is it!  God gave it to you and you need to live it and no one else’s.  Once I realized this I now know what I have been given and what I need to do!

Are you living someone else’s life?  Are you trying to tell someone else’s story?  Are you clear on your purpose?  Can you use what you have lived to help minister to others?

image: David Blackwell