The God Who Wastes Nothing

I went to Rob Bell's Drops Like Stars on Friday in Tempe. I've heard almost every sermon, I've read every book... but this was the first time I've seen him on one of his tours.

Very artistic. Which I guess is not for everyone, but i LOVED it. Loved it.

There were a few things that keep coming back to me...

1. The God Who Wastes Nothing.

The God Who Wastes Nothing...

Nothing.

Not a single failure is wasted.

Not a single fleshy moment is wasted.

Not one "wasted" day is wasted.

The God who wastes nothing.

It is almost impossible to grasp, since we act like we can run away from God. We make it out like there are those wasted years behind us that we will never get back.

They're just gone and we'd better hope we get it together this time. We'd better hope we don't waste another second on ANYTHING.

Ah. Joel had another idea...

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm - my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:25&26)

I will repay you for the years the locust have eaten.

I will make what was lost come alive again.

I will make what was taken from you return again.

I will make what was wronged right again.

And you will never be ashamed again.

The God Who Wastes Nothing.



2. I. Miss. Her.

He asked everyone who had ever been affected by cancer to stand up. More than half of the room came to their feet. He asked us to look around and identify what it felt like to see so many people affected by the same disaster standing with us. People called out answers like, "wow!", "there shouldn't be so many", "good to know I'm not alone".

But then he told us that, in one city, a man from the back said, loud enough for everyone to hear...

"I. Miss. Her."

Exhale.

Still. The God Who Wastes Nothing. The God who knows the deepest, distressed spaces of our existence and still chooses to birth light through our suffering.

It's hard to hold out hope for light to push out through the constant sorrow of a selfish world.

It's hard to feel anything but despair sometimes.

But God... if you waste nothing....

Then help me to endure everything.