Mentoring – Learning In Different Seasons

Potter & Clay

There are people that God brings into our lives for different seasons of growth.  We often wonder why we couldn’t have remained with that one person that we really liked, that we learned a lot from, or those friends who we really enjoyed friendship with.  Why we had to go our separate ways, or why things just weren’t the same anymore.  I don’t know all the answers those questions, but I do know that I have learned so much from all different type of people and friends that have come and gone in my life.  I learned a lot from best friends who I rarely speak to or don’t even speak to anymore, I learned a lot from all my previous pastors, I learned a lot from my dad when I was a young boy, and at different times in my life I have spent some time around some people who aren’t there anymore, but I am glad that they were there when I was there so that I could have learned from them.  There is a danger that can come from only following only one mentor (with the exception of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior).  General Superintendent George O Wood once stated “if we just attach exclusively to one person, we may become more of a devotee than a productive leader.  In a multitude of counselors there is safety.”  When we hear different mentors say different things, we should be mature enough to weigh those conflicting ways with the Word of God and separate the wheat from the chaff.

Just like a carpenter uses different tools for different projects, so God uses different people as instruments to create a masterpiece.  God uses people to hammer in truth into our lives that holds us together throughout our life, and he will remove people as to saw and cut things away that are not needed to fulfill his purpose.  I have learned from some people that God brought into my life even though they were not trainers or saw themselves as tutors or mentors, but I knew there was something I wanted to learn from them.  An intentional mentoring relationship where both parties covenant to learn and teach each other are the most effective.  It is impossible to have the success that God intended if we leave out the Holy Spirit from that covenant.  An intentional mentoring relationship should be one where God is the center of it, and then the others are guided by the Spirit of God.

Practical ideas for an intentional mentoring relationship may be: a local church pastor, a youth leader or children’s leader, an elder of a church or mature spiritual leader in your church, a spiritual friend, a godly spouse, a teacher or professor, a godly co-worker or boss, godly parents or grandparents, and other mature people that will come into your life.  Find someone that you can open yourself up to, and the things that you share with them will remain confidential and trust can be established.  It won’t necessarily just happen, it is something that you have to discuss and covenant to work towards.

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~ by hisstoryinmystory on August 4, 2010.