A Word With You Treasure in the Trash Ron Hutchcraft Ministries My wife and I were driving through a nearby town with some of our friends, and all of a sudden my wife says, Stop! She saw something, but what was it? Well, there was a gas station, there was a trash dumpster; you know, the sights that we would always want to stop and tour with our friends. She saw the top leaves of a plant sticking out of this dumpster. So we stopped and my friend who was driving got out with her. My wife said, Hey! That would be great for our office. I said, The dumpster? She said, No, the plant. The next thing you know, my friend is pulling this enormous plant out; pot and all. And they came back to the car with it. I couldnt get out of there fast enough; I was so embarrassed. And to announce my embarrassment, I put my handkerchief over my head. But today, I have to tell you, once that plant was all cleaned up, it nicely decorated our office lunch area, and it made an otherwise drab corner pretty nice. Im Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about Treasure in the Trash. Our word for today from the Word of God is in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning at verse 7. Actually, what led me to it was this ability that my wife has; where others see trash, she sees treasure. Its happened many times in our neighborhood as weve driven past things that others have thrown away. Heres the difference that kind of perspective can make when youre going through the garbage in your life. Paul says, ...to keep me from becoming conceited, because of these surpassingly great revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christs power may rest on me. That is why, for Christs sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Well, one thing is clear about the thorn in the flesh, Paul didnt like it. It was garbage. Paul said, If I didnt have it, I would have become conceited. I would have never tasted Gods power like this, because I never would have needed Him so much. See, those who touch Gods power most deeply are those who have needed Him most desperately. Paul shows us how to look for God in lifes garbage; for good in lifes garbage. Though we dont get to choose whether we go through this painful time, we do get to choose what we focus on. If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, theres always something beautiful in the ugly stuff or He would not allow you to go through it. Maybe this is a time for you to learn Gods patience, or Gods peace, or Gods power. Maybe its a time to let other people have the joy of serving you as you have served them. Maybe its time to find out how much people love you; how much God loves you. Or to develop a new inner strength that you have never touched before. Maybe there are people who have never listened to what you have to say about your Jesus, but this might just get their attention. This hard time? This might be the best opportunity, the best platform, you have ever had to show what a real difference Jesus makes, because He recycles garbage into something useful and beautiful. You know, because of what youre going through you have what I call crudentials. Youve got the credentials that come from just the ugly stuff of life. And if they see that Jesus gives you a peace and a power and an endurance and a joy in the midst of that, you may never have a better opportunity to prove the reality of your Savior. My wifes amazing! I mean, I look at trash; I see dirty, I see useless. She looks at that same garbage and sees the valuable things that could come from it. When it comes to lifes garbage, thats what Jesus does. Maybe Satan sent it, maybe God allowed it, and you probably dont like it. But God can use it for something beautiful if you will just ask Him to show you the treasure in the garbage.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 09:04:05 +0000
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