Don’t Waste the Waste
Dear Friends,
Its spring as I write this. And if you live in a farming community like I do, you will be smelling, shall we say, a nostril-cleaning, bone-jarring aroma. This aroma is attached to, and finds its source in, a substance as old as and as natural as the earth. There are many names given to this substance … let’s call it “waste”.
The reason why we always smell it in the springtime is because it is a necessary element in producing bountiful crops such as hay crops or raspberry crops or carrot crops.
Here’s the thing though. We don’t like smelling it. We don’t like watching as its spread on the fields. And we certainly don’t like thinking about where it comes from. Yet we depend on it for our own nutrition. How ironic – the very substance that we consider waste is actually for our benefit.
What is happening in your life that you would consider “waste”, something that you think stinks? Could it be that God means for it to produce in you a bountiful crop of dependence on him? Or a 100-fold harvest of compassion for others? Really, the crop choices are endless.
I was travelling westbound on Highway #1 this afternoon. The conditions were rainy and congested. Abruptly the traffic slowed down in front of me bringing me to a complete stop. The car behind me did not notice in time. What I saw in my rearview mirror, made my heart stop. The occupants were pressed into the front dashboard with eyes as wide as saucers, the whole car was tilted forward on its nose, and at the very last second, the driver jerked the steering wheel towards the left where tires met ditch. At one point we were sitting parallel, their car in the ditch and my car on the road. Immediately the two cars behind us stopped to help, the occupants of the ditched car emerged unharmed, and I had to move ahead with the flow of traffic.
Many questions are flowing through my mind as a result of what happened. How many angels had it taken to stop that car from hitting me? Why did God spare my life this time? What would have happened if I had been hit? Would I have handled it? Would my family have handled it?
If it’s true that the near “wastes” in our lives are just as potent for our growth as the full-on wastes then what kind of crop is God trying to grow in me through this experience? That is the question I will be asking God and keeping my ears and hears open to find the answer.
BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO WASTE THE “WASTE”.
James 1:2-4
NIV - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
NLT - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Message - Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
Don’t waste the “waste” in your life. Let God grow a plentiful crop that brings him glory.
Blessings from Bev
#1 from Lorne Welwood on June 20, 2010
Good one, Bev.
Just this past week I spent a few moments thinking about my life, how bountiful it is, and how most of the richest things in it would never be there if all had gone according to what would have been my plan and wishes.
Basically my whole current life and ministry came out of brokenness, sin and failure. When we say “Redeemer” sometimes we are not fathoming the half of it.