God Recycles

By Charleen Burghardt

During World War II, communities came together to have scrap drives, recycling paper, metal, and rubber to help the war effort. The government repurposed the collected materials into items needed for the war, such as jeeps, airplanes, and ships. The generation who lived through the Depression and later WW II developed a mindset of reusing what was available. My father was like that; he repurposed or repaired whatever he had. A discarded door could become a table or shelves. He created something new by using discarded materials from construction sites and dumpsters. I have a treasured set of bookends he designed from leftover wood pieces. My father recycled before the idea became a popular movement.

Today, recycling is a valuable means to repurpose materials, cut down on energy, and lessen the depletion of the environment. Glass, plastic, metal, and paper are recycled, now having factories that repurpose those materials. I bet you have containers at your home to sort materials for recycling.

Another kind of recycling is the recycling God does.

God Recycles

Besides physical recycling, there is another kind of recycling. God takes the difficult things in our lives and recycles them for something valuable. How can God use tough times? We may think nothing worthwhile will come from trials, pain, and disappointments. We may question ourselves, others, and even God. Why did this happen? What did I do wrong? Sometimes, no logical reason exists for getting cancer, losing a job, or losing a loved one.

We don’t understand why difficult things happen when trying to live right. We live in a fallen, broken, flawed world where suffering happens. In this imperfect world, suffering and unfair situations will occur. No one is immune.

No one is immune

Living in a broken world affects everyone

When tragedy, suffering, and heartache come as part of living in a broken world, God takes those experiences and uses them for something useful and valuable. As a divine builder, God who uses everything, even painful experiences like sickness, conflicts, and financial struggles. Wasting nothing, repurposing.

Wasting nothing, God repurposes

We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. We know this because God knew them in advance, and he decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of his Son. That way his Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:28, 29 (CEB).

God doesn’t waste what we go through, but works it together for good. The problematic experiences we endure, are not discard. Miraculously, the divine builder redeems our suffering while being ever-present in the agony, coming alongside to comfort. We don’t have a timetable for when and how God will repurpose our suffering but he will weave the broken into a beautiful tapestry of our lives.

After a miscarriage, God felt far away and I felt consumed with grief and sadness. I couldn’t see the sun’s rays because of the dark clouds that hovered over me. I am thankful because God’s grace enabled me to get through those days.

God does not waste our loss

Little did I expect God to use the grief I experienced. However, my heart enlarged with new empathy for others.  When I served as a chaplain, I visited many women who miscarried babies. I was able to support and comfort them better because of my experience.

I write a regular devotion for a Pregnancy Loss Group. Again, God uses the pain from my loss to empathize, comfort and give hope to the women in the group. The online group is called Our Scarlett Stories.

Additionally, God doesn’t invalidate or throw away what we endure or the tough times we have lived through, rather he weaves the brokenness in our lives and creates something new. Through hard times, God molds us to be more like Christ. Even our tears are not wasted.

God does not waste our suffering

God wastes nothing

Joseph, a faithful man in the Old Testament, found himself sold into slavery, and later, he endured years in prison when falsely accused. Then God took the trials he experienced and developed him into an influential leader to help his family. God used Joseph’s experiences to rescue his family from famine. Joseph’s reply to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it, in order to save the lives of many people, just as he’s doing today” (Genesis 50:20 CEB and the entire story can be found in Genesis 37-47).

God is in the business of redemption, not just our souls but also redeeming our circumstances.

Never be ashamed of your brokenness or the suffering. God will use it.

I want to give you two challenges.

1. Recall one life experiences. How did God recycle that experience?
2. Anticipate God to create something beautiful from your current experience.
   

Dear Redeemer,

You are a good God who wants to bring life into the world and wants to bring us joy. You don’t cause tragedy or loss but are with us in it. As we ache in emotional despair, you empathize with us and take the pain we experience, weaving it for something good for your glory. Use the tough times to make us more like Christ. We also ask for grace and comfort from the Holy Spirit. May we gaze on you in hope and belief.  Amen.

A song by Laura Story resonates with me about how a faithful God redeems our story, The God of Every Story.

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