Nothing is Wasted
By Cindy Goding
I recently learned that often jewelry makers use the silver dust or pieces that are shaved off, ground off, or cut off again as they recycle that silver that has been discarded. They often will “jewelry sweep” the silver dust off of surfaces to be recycled back into new pieces of jewelry. I thought that was an amazing concept to think about! Nothing goes to waste.
Isn’t that the same as how God uses our refining process? To be refined into the purest silver, the craftsman has to put the silver into the hottest part of the flame. However, it cannot be held there a minute too long or for a minute too short. Just the perfect amount of time for the silver to be refined by the fire in the purification process.
I love thinking that in this process, the pieces that are “taken off” of us by God in order to shape and refine us are not wasted. They are gathered again to be used by Him. That anything we go through in life that refines us will ultimately be used for His greater good and purpose. Nothing will go to waste. God will use all the moments of grief, sadness, joy, happiness, frustration, anger, mistakes, failures, and successes. Even the pieces that fall to the ground that we think are broken and useless will be tenderly gathered and used over and over. Maybe to grow us and teach us. Maybe to help someone else that we can empathize with. Maybe to remind us that God is sovereign and we can put our full faith and trust in Him. And maybe sometimes we won’t know the reason or see the outcome here earthside. And yet, we can trust that God WILL use all the moments of our lives to magnify and glorify Him.