Not planned, but redeemed...

Since just over a week ago, I have a new decoration in my lounge: a small jade plant in a ceramic pot. My new decor wasn’t planned; it was “redeemed,” and the process has highlighted a number of spiritual lessons about the way that God is at work in our lives, if we allow Him to. Just before my trip to the Ukraine, I went to one of our local supermarkets to buy a couple of large ceramic mugs that were on offer. I thought they’d be perfect for my cup of milky coffee in the morning, or even for drinking soup. As I arrived home, however, carrying my shopping bags into the house and fumbling for my door key, suddenly my arthritic hands couldn’t cope with the weight (it happens regularly) and one of the shopping bags went crashing to the ground. It was the bag with the two new cups in it and, sure enough, one of them had a huge chip out of it and was rendered unusable before I could even cut the label off.

Well, it hadn’t cost much money, but it still seemed a pity to throw out a brand new mug, and so I had the idea of using it as a plant pot instead. My living room has large shelving areas that are in need of a few more items to discourage the cats from climbing up and perching there. So I went out to the back patio and “amputated” a limb from the jade plant that’s spreading in the flower bed there. Now, instead of a broken cup in the bin, I have a small decorative plant on the top shelf. It’s a visual reminder that, even when something goes wrong in life and our vulnerability opens us up to brokenness and pain, it can still be redeemed and turned into something beautiful in the end.

That’s what Romans 8 verse 28 is about: the fact that God can take even the hard or bad things in life and turn them around to bring about something good for those who love him. I remember, decades ago, a friend told me about a book he’d read, called, “Don’t waste your Sorrows.” I never actually read the book myself, but the idea behind it was that God can take the painful things in life - even the unjust things that others do to us - and weave them into a destiny that turns out to be amazing for us in the end. That’s what He did for David (in the book of 1 Samuel) who was pursued for years by a rival who hated and wanted to kill him. That’s what He did for Joseph (in the book of Genesis) whose own brothers sold him into slavery, who was falsely accused and spent years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. God didn’t plan for any of these things to happen... but He redeemed them.

I may not have read the book, but I’ve always remembered the principle: don’t waste your sorrows. Don’t waste time in things like self-pity, unforgiveness or revenge, when you can give life’s hard times back to God and trust Him to redeem them. That’s true not only for the things that others do to us, but also to the troubles we bring upon ourselves by our own sin or selfishness. God can forgive even those things and redeem them to make something beautiful for His kingdom.

I read another book this week - "The Butterfly Garden." It was the spine chilling testimony of a little boy who grew up with a cruel and sadistic father. They moved house 24 times during his childhood, and it was only when he was 22 years old that he discovered the reason why: his father was a convicted murderer, a child killer who had escaped from prison and been on the run for 26 years. This man could have allowed his childhood trauma to completely destroy his life. Instead, now grown up, he has redeemed the darkness of his past; he is a key player in a charity seeking justice for neglected and abused children, and a popular speaker with children and youth in schools. He has given hope and help to countless children in situations that seemed as hopeless as his own.

It was not only my broken cup, but also the jade plant itself that spoke to me of God’s faithfulness and restorative love. See the posts below for more about that.