A way to determine how you can serve others is to ask yourself such questions as: What do I really enjoy doing most? When do I feel the most fully alive? What am I doing when I lose track of time? Do I like routine or variety? Do I prefer serving with a team or by myself? Am I more introverted or extroverted? Am I more a thinker or a feeler? Which do I enjoy more – competing or cooperating?

Examine your experiences and extract the lessons you’ve learned. Review your life and think about how it has shaped you.

Forgotten experiences are worthless; that’s a good reason to keep a spiritual journal. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul worried that the believers in Galatia would waste the pain they had been through. He said, “Were all your experiences wasted? I hope not!” (Galatians 3:4 NCV)

We rarely see God’s good purpose in pain or failure or embarrassment while it is happening. Only in hindsight do we understand how God intended a problem for good.

Extracting the lessons from your experiences takes time, but it can be for your benefit and the benefit of others. I recommend that you take an entire weekend for a life review retreat, where you pause to see how God has worked in the various defining moments of your life and consider how He wants to use those lessons to help others.  This may provide clear direction on the way you can minister to, volunteer, or work with others.

Taken from Pastor Rick Warren’s Daily Devotion

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