Now it is your turn. In this activity, you are going to investigate YOUR STORY.
Get out a long poster board folded in half or tape several sheets of paper together horizontally. This is going to represent the timeline of your life. Using different colored sticky notes, write the following things. On YELLOW sticky notes, write the positive (significant) events, people, and/or places from your life. I call these EGO BOOSTERS. On PINK sticky notes, write any negative events, people, and /or places. I call these EGO BUSTERS.
Now put the sticky notes in order of your life on the poster board, mixing both YELLOW and PINK accordingly. This gives you a pictorial representation of your life. Take a moment to look over and reflect on your life. Don’t be afraid. It may be a little overwhelming to see everything all on one paper.
Finally, on BLUE sticky notes, write down the lessons you learned through your experiences. Place them above the corresponding event it refers to. Sometimes this helps us recognize hidden “But God” moments we may have overlooked because we were so focused on our problems at the time.
Now comes the fun part. On small round stickers write the words, “But God” on each sticker. These represent the times in your life that God showed up and turned things around. These are the “TURNING POINTS” — or But God moments — in our lives. Place those throughout your timeline where they apply.
Recognize a Pattern of God’s Faithfulness
As you look back over your life, can see a PATTERN of God’s FAITHFULNESS? Once you do, you can be convinced, that HE IS NOT DONE WITH YOU YET. Will you decide to TRUST HIM in your current situation…despite the bleak outlook?
Sometimes We Forget
It’s important to REMEMBER what God has done in our life. Because WE FORGET! “I’ve seen what you have done in the past, God, I can TRUST you with whatever happens in the future.”
Remember the “But God Moments” of your life, so when you are faced with similar situations in the future, you can BELIEVE.
One Last Sticker…
This “But God” sticker is DIFFERENT from the others, because it hasn’t happened yet. Place this last sticker on your timeline beside your current situation. This “But God” moment is something you are committing to TRUST GOD for. It hasn’t happened yet, but you are waiting on God.
Final Thought
Someday, this life of yours will be over. You will be up there in the stands, in the Great Cloud of Witnesses. Your loved ones (kids) will be “Running the Race”. Will they remember? Will they remember what you did when faced with a difficult situation? My Mom did this, so I can too!
Who’s watching you? Who’s watching your life to see how you are going to handle this crisis? Kids? Co-workers? Spouse?
How do you approach problems? With an attitude of…
But God? Why?
But God, I BELIEVE!
This is your life. Your life is not over with yet. Your story is still being written. What LEGACY are you going to leave those who follow you?
Hold up your Life (your Timeline) before God and pray, “Ok God. I can’t see anything good coming out of this. But as I look back over my life, I can see a pattern of your faithfulness. I am going to CHOOSE to TRUST you. I am believing you for a BUT GOD moment.”
I BELIEVE!
