Your Painful Experiences Will Not Be Wasted If You’ll Share Four Things:
1. Share how pain got your attention.
“Hard times and trouble are God’s way of getting our attention!” (Job 36:15) [CEV]

When Sharing About Your Pain…
□ … be open about your feelings.
“We have spoken frankly to you; we have opened our hearts wide.” (2 Corinthians 6:11b) [TEV]

□ … be humble about your faults. “Each of us must bear the faults and burdens of his own. For none of us is perfect!” (Galatians 6:5) [LB]

□ … be frank about your failures. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15b) [NIV]

□ … be honest about your frustrations. “I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out … I keep on doing the evil I don’t want to do.” (Romans 7:18–19)
□ … be candid about your fears. “I do admit that I have fears that when I come you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces…” (2 Corinthians 12:20) [MSG]

2. Share what you’ve learned from your pain.
“Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” (Proverbs 20:30) [TEV]

□ I’ve learned to depend more on God. “We were really crushed and overwhelmed … and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us … and he did help us …” (2 Corinthians 1:8b–10) [LB]

□ I’ve learned to trust and obey God’s word. “ … it was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.” (Psalm 119:71) [LB]

□ I’ve learned I need other people.“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) [NIV]