You know there are times when life deals us a bad hand. And it seems that the more we draw from the deck, we continue to feel like we’re losing the game. Some of us are born into well-to-do families, while others of us struggle our whole lives long. Regardless to the circumstances we are born into or find ourselves in, God is able to make treasures out of us. (Ephesians 3:20)
I recall hearing a story about a sheet of high end parchment paper that sat so exquisitely in the credenza of a rich artist. There was also a thin sheet of inexpensive paper thrown on the floor with boot marks, random scratches, and stains. The ruined paper snubbed at the elegant paper saying, “You have it so good. You don’t know what it feels like to be walked on, written on, and thrown away.”
The elegant paper said, “You don’t know where I come from. There was a time in my life when I was good for nothing except scratch paper. I was ripped apart, spit on, marked up, passed around, and then thrown away left alone on the street.”
The ruined paper responded, “I don’t believe it! You don’t look like any of that bad stuff happened to you!”
The elegant paper responded, “Well it did! I had become so accustomed to being in that condition, that I expected my life to be that way forever; until one day the unexpected happened. I was picked up by a complete stranger who took me to what’s called a recycling facility. I met other paper that had been treated the same as me. The stranger put all of us together, sent us through an uncomfortable, but quite beneficial process of breaking, purging, pressing, and refining. When it was all over, we all came out like this…elegant and exquisite. None of us are exactly sure why the stranger picked us, but we know if we had not been thrown away as trash, we would have never become treasures. Now I walk around with this stamp that says ‘Recycled Materials’. It’s proof that I wasn’t always what I appear to be right now.”
God has a recycling process for each of us. Just because we feel like trash, or have been used, abused, and left alone, there’s something better than what you see right now. (Mark 10:27) Set your eyes and your mind on what is possible and set your trust in the One who can make it happen. Read Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”
Perhaps the test of your faith and strength today is to live as treasure even when others treat you like trash!
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