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Shake it off and climb up higher!

Did you know that God can use the very things that you are most embarrassed about, most ashamed of and most hestitant to talk about — to bring healing and hope to someone else?  It seems that’s exactly what He’s doing with my life.  I find myself sharing more and more about my mistakes from the past and even recording some of the most hurtful experiences I’ve ever been through on CD.  I think sometimes, “Terri, what are you doing?  Be quiet!!!”  But then again, I keep hearing how my “junk” is helping others and it makes it all worth it.

I don’t know what you’ve been through in your life, but God can use it.  Jesus said, “Gather up the fragments that nothing be wasted.”  You may think that your life has been nothing but a fragmented waste!  But God says, “I can use it.”  Rick Warren says, “Your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.”  Whatever it is right now that Satan is trying to destroy you with, or make you feel absolutely hopeless and even pathetic – shake it off.  Learn from it.  Grow from it. Change from it.  And let God turn it into your greatest testimony!

There was a farmer out with his donkeys one day when one of his donkeys fell all the way to the bottom of a well.  The farmer said he was too far down in the bottom of that well that it wasn’t even worth it to get him out.  So, he invited some of his neighbors over to help him cover him up with dirt and bury him. They grabbed shovels and shoveled dirt into the well on top of the donkey.  At first, when the donkey realized what was happening, he cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.  The farmer looked down there and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel load that fell on his back, amazingly, the donkey shook it off and climbed on top of it. . .  and moved up just a little bit higher.  As they continued to shovel dirt on top of him, no matter how much they threw in, he continued to shake it off and step up higher.  Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped right over the edge of the well and trotted off.

Satan may have tried to bury you in your past, your mistakes, your shame.  And you may have (probably have) cried horribly at the pain in your soul.  You may have thought, “There’s no way out. I’m stuck. I’m trapped. I want to give up!”  But I want you to know that you are never too far down that God can’t reach in that well (pit) and pull you out.  God can use the very things that Satan has tried to “bury” you with to become your greatest stepping stone to freedom!  Let God turn your mess into a message and your misery into a ministry for someone else.  Don’t look at what you’re going through as “final” – look at it as an opportunity to climb higher.

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