God Recycles
Some of you read the title, “God Recycles,” and may feel an inward resentment due to all the people in the world that has made recycling a religion.
And if you don’t do it, you’re a bad person.
Others of you will read this title and think, “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! It’s about time someone bring God into recycling! Everyone should recycle!”
Seriously guys, chill out on the whole recycling bit. You scare me.
I intend to appeal to neither of these parties in particular. Instead, I will simply share with you a conversation I had with my daughters about how God uses people for His good.
Sometimes my daughters get their little hands on fake tattoos. The ones they had today was a rainbow with a dove above it, and another one that simply read, “God’s Law.”
They know the difference between real tattoos and pictures they put on their skin that easily wash off. They also know that their dad has two real tattoos. One of them is in the picture you see above.
Earlier today, my daughters were asking me about why I got my tattoo. We have had this conversation several times, and I am always eager to share with them the same reasons each time they ask.
I tell them that when I got the tattoo, I knew for sure that I wanted it for the rest of my life. Then I tell them that now I would rather not have it there.
Obviously, this confuses them. So this is how the conversation went:
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Daughter: “But didn’t you want it for the rest of your life, Daddy?”
Me: “Yes, honey, but I didn’t know then what I know now. Now I like the skin that God gave me better than the ink that I have put on the skin God gave me. This ink will never go away.”
Daughter: “Can’t you get the ink out somehow?”
Me: “Yes, there are ways to do that, but that costs a bunch of money. But I don’t think I would want to do that anyway.”
Daughter: “Why not?”
Me: “Well, hun, I have had so many conversations with people about my tattoos. Some people like them very much. And when I get to talk to people about my tattoos, then I may be able to talk to them about Jesus. There have been many times that I have done that. So, I believe that God uses the things that we might have messed up at, or failed at, to bring people closer to Him, to bring US closer to Him. God uses our weakness and our failures to help us get closer to Him.”
Daughter: “You mean like recycling? God takes away what’s bad and replaces it with something good?”
Me: “[moment of silence] Yes, honey, that’s exactly right.”
I could have cried when she said that. “God takes away what’s bad and replaces it with something good.”
I used this moment to teach her that it is times like this when we know God speaks to us. We learn from Him because He reveals a truth to us that we otherwise would not have known. To this, my little girl smiled the kind of smile that reveals gratitude and joy in knowing that God really is close to His people and communicates with them.
I got a tattoo when I was 19. I would rather not have gotten it now, but I would never get it removed. God has used that as a way to connect with people I would otherwise have never connected with. It’s happened numerous times.
It’s your turn: What is something that you have done in the past, that you may have regretted, but can see that God has now used it for His good?
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