Recycling

“As they pass through the Valley of Weeping, 

they make it a well (for others to drink from).”
Psalm 84:6

 

In asking our Korean students what was their most difficult adjustment in coming to America, their response, “we didn’t know where to put the food at lunch” caught me by surprise. A little follow up yielded the fact that recycling in Korea is light years ahead of what we do here in the United States. In our lunchroom, all garbage goes in one receptacle and it taken out to the dumpster. In Korea, the average home or school will have five recycling containers: one for all food products, one for metals, another for plastic, a fourth for paper and cardboard, and, lastly, a catch all for anything that doesn’t belong in one of the others.  And recycling is not hit or miss in Korea as it is here but something fastidiously adhered to.

 

Not only did I learn something about another country and culture from those students, but it has motivated me to issue a general call for far greater recycling in each of our lives starting today. But consider this statement before you jump to conclusions: “if you will allow Him, the Lord will recycle your pain for someone else’s gain.” Now that is recycling! We take the lessons learned, the pain we have experienced and recycle it into consolation in someone else’s life. We take the victories we have earned, and the faith gained as a result, and we recycle that too. No more of this American recycling; we are going South Korean all the way!

 

Scriptures say much about the testimonies of our lives being a means of wisdom and strength in the lives of others. Some lessons are of necessity learned through experiences we go through and learn from. But not all! How often are we given the opportunity to see and hear what has happened in another person’s life in order to avoid the same pitfalls in our own? How often are we privy to the failures of another for the express purpose of saving us from needless sorrow and pain? Out of love for one another, we desperately need a fresh commitment to the recycling of our lives.

 

When I think of how God can recycle our experiences in so many spheres of life, from raising our children to succeeding on the job, from enduring heartbreak to handling victory humbly, to holding on by a thread to getting to our wits end, I see abundant opportunity for each of us to contribute, through personal recycling, to the well-being of others. It will require us being more open about what we’ve gone through, more willing to make our pain a source of gain for a friend, a coworker or fellow believer. But what great value in taking the experiences and lessons that we have paid a dear price for and using them for great profit in the lives of others.

God Bless

Pastor Joe
Gateway Church