When I was in college, the dorm rooms were formed into smaller prayer groups, usually three dorm rooms to a group, that met almost every night for devotions. The people in the rooms took turns sharing a devotional each night, then we spent a few minutes in prayer before getting ready for bed.
One of my roommates got extremely nervous when her time to share was coming up. She stressed over not knowing what to say. “How am I supposed to know what other people need to hear?’
We tried to encourage her to just share something God had been teaching her. It didn’t have to be a sermon. It didn’t have to be the last word on a given subject. If God wanted her to share something for Him, He’d give her what He wanted her to say.
When our ladies’ Bible study group was going through True Woman 201: Interior Design–Ten Elements of Biblical Womanhood, one section stood out to me. The authors emphasized that mentoring “simply means drawing on your life experience, in the context of everyday life, to provide encouragement and exhortation to those who are younger” (p. 219).
Of course, the whole book talks about being a godly woman by spending time with Him, in His Word, and reflecting Him. So we’re not just drawing on our personal life experience, but our experience within the bigger picture of our walk with God–what we’ve learned along the way.
It’s the same with any kind of ministry to each other. We draw out of our own experiences with God. We can’t teach or model or share what we don’t know. That is another reason for growing in grace and knowledge of Him–not just for our own benefit, but to have to minister to others.
This doesn’t mean that only women who have miscarried a child can minister to a woman in that situation, or only a single woman in the business world can mentor a younger single businesswoman. There are some truths of faith and practice that can be applied across the board.
Sharing with others from our lives also doesn’t mean that we have to have everything together and know all the answers. That would eliminate everyone. Sometimes sharing from our failures encourages others that there is hope and forgiveness and grace
Ministering to others also isn’t restricted to official, formal, or even church-related venues. It’s amazing how often in my life, a seemingly chance, off-the-cuff statement from someone else was just what I needed to hear that day.
I’ve often been encouraged by this excerpt from a hymn by Fanny Crosby:
Now just a word for Jesus:
Your dearest Friend so true,
Come cheer our hearts and tell us
What He has done for you.
Now just a word for Jesus-
‘Twill help us on our way;
One little word for Jesus,
O speak or sing or pray.—Fanny Crosby
God can use each of us as we interact with each other in everyday life to encourage and uplift. As we ask Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit, seek His guidance, and pay attention to the needs of others, He can work through us to point them to Him.
(Updated to add: The day after posting this, it occurred to me that it could be taken in a wrong way. I’m not exalting experience above the Word of God. I’m talking about sharing from our own walk with God and our time in His Word–how we’ve found Him faithful, how He helped us through various trials, how He kept His promises to us.)
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
I really liked reading your post this rainy Sunday morning Barbara. I agree with all you’ve said. I was asked to share a certain personal experience the Lord brought me through when I was in my 20s (i was in my 40s when asked to share it) and I was nervous because most of the women in the group were far older and in my eyes more mature spiritually than me. Some were a bit judgemental of certain things so that made me nervous too….like “what do I wear” etc The Lord finally impressed on me to just be who I am. To be authentic and not try to fit their mold because He would guide my words. afterwards an older woman (who i later found out was a brand new Christian..so much for my stereotype!) needed to hear the exact Scritpure I had shared and she had gone through something similar and it was just so poignant of a moment to realize God could use me even in a group of much more “put together” older ladies.
God can minister through us simply by us sharing our experiences with others. When I worked in hospice, I was able to relate to others who had just lost a spouse, because I had been through that.
Yes, as we share our experiences with God, we can possibly be leading others to know Him. Amen. Have a blessed week!
God is so good to invite us to share our experiences with others and draw strength and encouragement from each other. And often we can’t know what someone else is walking through and how God can use our testimony to encourage them. Just today we were with friends and shared some really negative experiences we had in the church years ago as part of our “backstory” – to us it was just a background, but our friend commented that it was a testimony of God’s faithfulness and our perseverance that we had even continued serving the Lord and had found another church to connect with after the experience we’d had. We hadn’t thought of it framed exactly that way, but he was right – it was a testimony to God’s goodness that may well encourage someone else when we share it.
I think that what you have shared here is what has kept bloggers like us from finding other uses for our time and energy. God keeps assuring us that we have something to share, so we keep on sharing it until we hear him say that we’re released to do something different.
I enjoyed this, and was reminded as I read it how God can and will work as he wants — many times through our words. It helps me to know that it’s his power at work in conversations with others, not mine. And, reading the beginning of this made me really wish I’d gone to a Christian college! Having prayer groups in the dorm sounds amazing.
I like how you said, “So we’re not just drawing on our personal life experience, but our experience within the bigger picture of our walk with God–what we’ve learned along the way.” A story of how God has impacted a moment, a situation, or a season–pointing back to Him and His word. We are told that God has a place beneath the shadow of His wing–our story is the place beneath His wing, which is His word – that’s what I saw when I read your post. Beautiful encouragement!
It is amazing how God uses the experiences of others so that we, too, learn from His Word. He weaves both together so we learn in our current situations. This post encourages us all to keep sharing so that we spur one another on and draw upon His Word and His strength. I’m so glad you shared the words from Fanny Crosby as I don’t think I have ever heard this hymn.
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I really appreciated this, Barbara. God uses our experiences, especially the hard ones, to grow us. And I think it’s wonderful when He allows us to share parts of that growth process to help others. I know I am greatly encouraged when I read how God has worked in other peoples’ lives. It strengthens my faith, especially when my future is looking a bit cloudy.
Pausing to reflect here today Barbara. And your quote >”mentoring “simply means drawing on your life experience, in the context of everyday life, to provide encouragement and exhortation to those who are younger” stood out to me too within your message. I’m writing that down so I can remember and reflect.
Visiting today from Kym’s