As a young boy, I didn’t care much for school. I wanted to be somewhere else. I remember reading books in the school library about what was then known as Navy Frogmen, who later became the UDT (Underwater Demolition Team). The UDT would become its current manifestation as Navy SEALS.
As a young man, I became certified as a SCUBA diver. I pushed myself to stay physically fit and displayed a natural talent with firearms. I would become a co-captain of our pistol team, be trained as a Combat Firearms Instructor, and serve as a range master. I was eventually invited to become a member of our SWAT team, a civilian version of a Navy SEAL.
Each life has a trail of experiences that will be used by the Lord to reveal His calling in our lives. God never wastes these experiences. Every biblical character walked upon such a trail that would prepare them to take on God’s calling for their life. David was a shepherd. His experience as a shepherd trained him to confront Goliath and lead the nation of Israel. Paul was a highly educated man, a Pharisee. The Lord would use his experiences and his training to make him a great theologian. Peter would leave his career as a fisherman to become a fisher of men.
After the Lord appeared to me one night and called me back to Himself, I realized all those experiences were steps along the trail of my life that would reveal my future calling. The Lord would use all my experiences to prepare me to release the gift of prophecy, a gift not always received or appreciated when first revealed. My life experiences helped me to know how to respond to such rejections when, as a street cop, most people did not understand the urgency of my actions to resolve an emergency.
Unpacking the trail of our lives reveals how the Lord has used all of our life experiences to lead us to a place where His purpose and gifting for our lives are finally revealed. The Lord will use our desires and past experiences to guide us along a path toward the future revelation of His will when we were still blind to what was taking place.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them” (Isaiah 42:16).
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by smellypumpy from Pixabay
