God likes to show me things in the kitchen, probably because I am there so often! Last night I peered into the fridge and realized we had some aging hoagie rolls that had dried out. No one would want them for sandwiches. Then I opened a container of ricotta cheese that I had previously frozen so it would not go bad. After thawing in the fridge, the cheese was also not the right consistency for normal use. Pondering what to do with these individually undesirable food items, an idea suddenly popped into my mind. After tossing bite-sized chunks of the rolls into a buttered casserole dish, I whisked the ricotta with some milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then I mixed frozen blueberries with the bread and poured the ricotta mixture on top. Covering the dish, I refrigerated it overnight.
This morning I baked the concoction for almost an hour and voila! — a Blueberry Cheesecake French Toast breakfast! The kitchen smelled wonderful because of this puffy, sweet, fruit-infused dish. And the results were delicious!
This experience reminded me of what God can do with us—with our past hurts and failures, if we’ll let Him. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Many people, believers and skeptics alike, wrongly base their view of God on the first phrase of that verse–And we know that God causes all things. Such a fatalistic conclusion twists Paul’s meaning and the lesson he teaches. Instead, Paul wants us to know that regardless of how we ended up feeling worn out–like the dried up rolls, or seemingly useless–like the thawed ricotta, God can still turn things around. No matter what undesirable events or decisions have compromised our past, He always offers hope for our future.
In fact, He can even use our past to help others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 encourages, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. If we invite God into our hurts and mistakes and trials, He can strengthen us AND turn us into vessels that share that same miraculous healing with others. Not only do we get renewed, but others receive that same revitalization.
It begins with loosening our grip, believing God actually can and wants to restore us, and then allowing Him to do something completely unexpected with our “stuff.” In God’s economy, nothing and no one is hopeless or beyond redemption. The key is a willingness to change our perspective, drop our judgments, and believe His power and love are greater.
Just as I found a delicious new use for the “worthless” bread and cheese, God has ways of making all things new!
