Now that 2016 has come to an end, I think about the many goals and resolutions I set for the year. Sadly, reflecting back, I realized that I hadn’t accomplished nearly as much as I wanted to get done. On one hand, this made me sad. For me, 2016 was supposed to be my year of “BIG.” I planned to fall more in love with God, building a constant prayer life, launch my ministry and blog (making it profitable), get skinny, save money and find love (well him finding me and me being open to him). In many of these cases, I’ve started the process, but in my opinion, it didn’t look like how I expected it to look.
As the year ended, I began to lament. I asked God: What happened? Where did I go wrong? Surely, compared to what I expect those 365 days of 2016 to be, this was not big.
On Christmas day, I preached to my aunt the importance of having experience versus having stuff whether of monetary or material value. I explained that the stuff you hoard and accumulate would eventually lose its value. You won’t remember what it felt like when you had it. But experiences. They are the things you observe and encounter over time. It is these happenings of life that provide you with knowledge and wisdom. Whether good or bad, experiences are the things you cherish forever.
At that moment, it dawned on me that my 2016 was, in fact, big. It was big not because of the things I felt like I needed to accomplish but for the experiences I’d had. In 2016, I did launch my ministry and blog. This experience taught me how to build a website, the importance of building a brand and the importance of networking. Also in 2016, I experienced some health challenges which urged me to consider my health and wellness practices. I spent too much money on silly things in 2016, and from that experience, I realize the importance financial wisdom and wise spending. Last year, I opened heart to the possibilities of love. Through this experience, I learned to depend on God because He would protect my heart and direct my path. Most importantly, I did fall more in love with God, I prayed more, but to that, I fasted. The bond that I now share with Christ is not because of the things I accomplished, but because of the experiences, I went thru.
When I look throughout the Bible, I see how many people’s experiences prepared them for their next thing. Had David not killed a bear and a lion while tending to his father’s sheep in I Samuel 17:34-35, he wouldn’t have had the experience of defeating things bigger than him which gave him the confidence to beat Goliath in verse 36. If Saul had not had his Damascus Road experience in Acts 9, there would be no Paul or the Christian church as we know it today. There is proof that experience prepares you to be able to handle what’s to come.
So when you think you haven’t done enough, gained enough or been sufficient enough, know you are experiencing enough. Those experiences are sufficient to teach you, prepared you and tested you. Zechariah 4:10 says “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.” Know that each experience is just a small beginning to a bigger ending.
In your experiences, be virtuous!!!