One man's trash...

You know the saying... "One man's trash is another man's treasure"? Well I think that applies in a lot of unexpected places that we don't often think about. See I believe that God means to redeem His entire creation...restore it. Along with that I believe that God's redemption is active everywhere and we can choose to be a part of it.
We all have junk in our lives that we would rather forget, bury, move on, take to the dumpster and never see again. But that junk still has experiences that stay with us that we carry around and don't forget. Sooooo we can always think about it as junk, and let it sit in our hearts and minds and stink up the place or we can find a way to redeem it by using it for good. I think we have a choice. Our trash can stay trash but it might be someone's treasure. What I mean to say is this; maybe you suffered some terrible abuse and you lived through it, or maybe you made a bad decision that you regret to this day, well that's where those things can stay or we can use that experience to come alongside someone else, to companion, to listen in ways that someone without your trash is incapable of doing, to share the wisdom born of your experience perhaps. This is the point where your trash becomes treasured by someone else.
No one can understand what it feels like to watch your own child die like another parent who has experienced the same thing. No one can understand what it is like to live with an addiction like someone else that does. No one can understand what it is like to live with chronic illness like someone else that does.
We all have a choice. We can bear one another's burdens. We can love our neighbor. We can turn our trash into treasure!