I have a thing for other people’s “trash.” Council clean-ups, curb burglar-ing, a killer eBay bargain, they’re all up my alley. You know the old adage, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? I live this! It is a regular occurrence for my husband to be calmly driving along, only to be scared out of his wits as I frantically scream at him to “STOP THE CAR!!!”
I then have to sheepishly explain that we are not in mortal danger, I am just slightly excited as I have spotted my latest treasure. Once his pulse has returned to within normal range, the ensuing conversation is ALWAYS the same. He questions my sanity in collecting rubbish, and I describe the beauty that I know I can unveil in my new piece. There may also be teeniest of tiny possibilities that he is also questioning how long the “treasure” will sit in our garage while it awaits its transformation. A side issue really.
While spending the last hour starting the process of “up-cycling” a gorgeous timber children’s chair that I “rescued” from a council clean-up, I have pondered why someone would throw away something so precious? As I’ve sanded off the dodgy lacquer and stain and applied the first coat of new paint, I was reminded of something: If I look at trash and I see beauty, how much more does God look at His astounding creation and see the royalty He intended?
If I, through sanding back and painting over what others have deemed as trash, and draw out of it beauty and charm, how much more can God draw out of us the beauty that has been cast aside and covered up or even completely discarded as trash? Not only does He draw out, enhance and perfect that beauty, He makes an entirely new creation in the process!
If you are feeling “trashed,” cast aside, roughed up, forgotten or left by the curb, there is no better place to run than into the arms of your Heavenly Father! His sanding is gentle. His brush strokes are light. He already sees you as a finished product. He sees beauty. YOU are HIS TREASURE.
Bek Curtis is an Australian-based blogger.
