All of us have gone through hard times, suffered loss and tragedy, and at times even made some really costly mistakes.  Many times we think that we have hit the end of the road. We wonder how things can be salvaged out of the mess that has been created.

What’s really frustrating, to me anyway, is when the mess I am in was created by someone else.  It’s one thing to suffer at the hands of my own stupid decisions and choices.  It’s another thing, and much more aggravating, to suffer due to someone else’s poor decisions and choices.

But, I serve a God that is able to make all things new, turn whatever mess I am in into a message of redemption and take every test and trial and turn them into a testimony of victory.  I don’t know how He does it but He does.

With God, nothing is wasted.  No trial, mess, tear, stupid decision or consequence is wasted with God.  He can take everything good and bad in your life and use it for your benefit, the benefit of others and ultimately, His glory.

Right now, I am in a transitional season in my life.  I have been going down a path that I did not choose for myself.  Based on the decisions of others, I find myself in a place that I don’t really want to be.  I have often wondered, “is this the best that it’s going to get?”

Have you ever been there?  It’s so frustrating.  Deep down I know that God is preparing me for something greater (or at least, most days, I am hoping so).  Deep down I know that He is faithful and will not neglect me nor has He ever forgotten me.  Deep down, I know these things to be true.

Unfortunately, there are days that I don’t live deep down!  There are some days when I live in the shallow pit of my emotions.  There are some days that I allow my thoughts to get carried away and I lose sight of the fact that NOTHING IS WASTED WITH GOD!

Everything that I have been through, God will use to grow me and to help me understand what others are going through.  You cannot understand someone’s story unless you have a similar one.  I will never know what it’s like to be addicted to drugs because I have never been addicted to drugs.  For those that have, and have been delivered, God will use that to help someone else.  It’s not been wasted.

Even though I don’t know what it’s like to be addicted, I have my own stories.  I have my own issues.  I have my own messes.  On the days that I find myself swimming in the shallow end of self-pity and bad moods, I have to remind myself that nothing is wasted with God.  Everything I am experiencing right now will be used for a greater purpose.

When I think about all the different characters in the Bible, I realize that 1) God can and will use anybody, and 2) our mistakes and messes don’t thwart Him a bit.  Just reading the genealogy of Jesus shows us that God can and will use anyone.  God’s not afraid of our messes or mistakes.

God uses the situations in our lives to mold us into better human beings that have greater empathy for those around us.  That’s why I love Hebrews 4:15-16 so much.

 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Because Jesus knows the weaknesses and frailties of humanity, He gives us grace and mercy.  He understands the messes that we get ourselves into.  He gives us grace and mercy to get out of those messes with a message of hope, love and forgiveness.

He takes all of our issues, problems, mistakes, messes, tragedies, disappointments, and failures, runs them through His grace and somehow, some way, something amazingly beautiful comes out of it all.  The scripture is true that declares, “He gives beauty for ashes.” (Isaiah 61:3)

I have a dear friend that has just started blogging.  Her blog is about her life’s story.  In her blog, she shares about a lot of the messes that she has found herself in.  And yet, God, her loving Father, is taking every single one of those messes and is turning them into an amazing tapestry that others will look at and see as beautiful.  My friend is just one shining example of how nothing is wasted with God.

What about you?  Have you ever felt that some decisions you made in life were wasted? Have you ever felt insignificant?  Have you ever felt that things were too bad for God to redeem?  I know that I have had my fair share of seemingly hopeless issues.  I have to always remind myself that, with God, nothing is wasted.