What Are You Doing With Your Junk?

I found this picture today of a pile of junk. Ah, what the human mind can do! The world is full of junk; your life probably has its fair (or even unfair) amount of "junk" you'd rather not deal with. This picture reminded me that God gives us the wisdom and power to see something in the junk of life that many might miss: opportunities to grow in our patience, kindness, compassion... in short, opportunities to grow to be more like the One who experienced the ultimate junk (death on our behalf) and won for us the ultimate gift, an eternal relationship with Him.

So don't let the junk in your life win, "look" for a pattern, maybe even a surprising one that will ultimately bless you and those you encounter. Here's a paraphrase of Romans 8:26-30:

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun."

Our Father is the ultimate "sculptor!" Trust Him with your junk!