Nothing is Wasted

I watched her carefully fold the paper into a perfect Chinese fan, trimming off the excess and scooting it into a pile on the side. "Can I have those scraps?" I asked. When she agreed, I started peicing them together and examining the paper from every angle to see what I could possibly make with all the extra. 

I recently did some spring cleaning in my apartment and created quite a large pile of t-shirts from high school and college that I no longer wear. I bagged them up to give them away, but then after further thought decided they might be useful for something.

I do not like to throw perfectly good things away. I guess I tend to see the potential in the scraps, the extras, and the excess. 

After some time (and with the help of a few staples), that scrap paper turned into a beautiful paper flower. And that extra pile of t-shirts is about to become a t-shirt quilt. It's trendy these days to do stuff like that - make necklaces out of old newspaper, purses out of old potato sacks, and artwork out of junk found in the dump. I think it's an excellent principle: Everything can be used. Nothing is complete garbage. Give it a little love and nothing is wasted. 

It's also a biblical principle. Nothing in our lives is ever wasted. God uses every day of every season of our lives for a purpose, even those scraps that seem unusable and meaningless. Perhaps he is teaching us something, showing us something, or preparing us for something. He uses every struggle and every victory along the way to push us further towards his will or further into his arms. No circumstance is a scrap to throw aside. No incidence is worthless excess. 

Do you ever feel like something in your life is or was a waste? God takes every tear, every mistake, every mishap, every piece of good or bad news...and he shapes it into something valuable. And so nothing in our lives is ever wasted. Everything can be used. He takes that thing that you are thinking of, he gives it a little love, and it becomes intentional and purposeful. 

I was just talking on the phone today to a friend who has suffered through a terrible time the past few months. She has been lied to, cheated, and left to deal with the consequences alone. She has been betrayed, broken, and physically ill to the point of being transferred into an intensive care unit. As I spoke with her, she gave glory to God and called her trials her "testimony". She admitted that it has been the hardest time of her life, yet she proclaims that God is using it to transform her. Now she believes God will use it to transform the people around her, and God is giving her courage to tell her story. 

Nothing is wasted.

I was reminded of that this week from the woman who broke her alabaster jar of expensive perfume at Jesus' feet. She poured it all out, saving none for herself. One of Jesus' disciples recognized the extreme value of this perfume, and he criticized the woman for her sacrifice. "She could have sold that and given the money to the poor!" He said, essentially saying, "What a waste!"

But this misguided disciple was only thinking about money, not about what was truly valuable. The woman's sacrifice showed that she understood what the disciple did not: Jesus is worth more than anything in this whole world. His infinite value means that nothing is ever wasted on him. 

Nothing is ever wasted on Jesus. 

Some may give up material possessions. I know a family who just sold everything they own, lived in a van for several months, and traveled the country raising funds for Africa. Some would call that a waste, but nothing is wasted on Jesus. 

Some may give up comfort. I know a woman who just moved into a recovery center to minister there, and she doesn't even have a shower but takes bucket baths in order to live with the residents and love on them. I have heard of men who have given up their career dreams and women who have given up their handsome boyfriends because the things that they were pursuing were drawing them away from Christ. Some would call that a waste, but nothing is wasted on Jesus. 

I know of missionaries who have given up their families, homeland, and everything familiar to live among unreached people groups and share the gospel with them. Some have even given their lives for the lives of those who do not yet know Jesus, and they never got to see the fruit of their labor. Some would call that a waste, but nothing is wasted on Jesus. 

How beautiful it is that Jesus would work for us in such a way that nothing in our lives is wasted. In return, we offer to him the most expensive and valuable things we have to offer - our time, our comfort and security, our possessions, even our lives - and it is never ever a waste.