Why Nothing is Wasted

Why Nothing is Wasted, from Moses’ Story

A waste of time. I am very much the type of person who doesn’t like to waste time. In fact, I am constantly trying to do two (or more) things at one time in order not to waste time. Do I need to drive to take a child to a game or practice? I’ll listen to my audio Bible to get my Bible Reading in for the day. 

Maybe I need to watch a video for the training I’m doing. I’ll pick up my cross stitch to work on it while I watch so I can do two things at once. All for the sake of not “wasting time.” 

Then there are the bigger things. There are the hours and hours, weeks and months and years and years I spent pouring into something only to have it taken away, rejected, or nothing come of it. I know of a friend who spent hours, and yes, lots of money trying to get a book published only to have the door closed in her face. 

Nothing is Wasted

How is that not wasted? How is that time in our lives not wasted? I think it would be easy to say the same thing about Moses’ life. As we read his story, there were three things that happened to him that the world – and if you and I were honest – we would have called “such a waste of time.” 

Those three things are not unique to Moses. Maybe the way it played out in Moses’ life are unique, but these three things I want to talk about tonight are three things we have all either faced or will face and we will be tempted to say: what a waste. 

As we go through, I want you to think about a time when you felt one of these things. And I want you to start seeing ways in which GOD can or maybe even already has redeemed those times. 

How Loss is Not Wasted

Exodus 2:1-10

Moses lost his birth family and his culture. He didn’t grow up Hebrew. He didn’t grow up in his birth family’s household. Moses lost a lot as a young child. 

I am keenly aware of this as we have two children who have been internationally adopted. I think adoption always comes with loss, but in cross-culture adoption there is another layer of loss. 

We know from Moses’ story that the loss of his birth family allowed him to grow up in a position of authority and wealth. But more than that, Moses was able to be taught to read, write, and even probably was battle trained. God used that loss in Moses’ life to put Moses in a place where he knew what it was like to lead. 

Let’s look at how God in fact redeems and restores in the story of Ruth: 

“So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

Ruth 4:13-17 

God not only redeemed Ruth’s life, but really the Book of Ruth is the story of Naomi. Noami’s life was redeemed!  Her life was restored. In Ruth 4:15 it says that God is the restorer of life. Death surrounded Naomi but God gave her new life in the form of a grandson. 

Sometimes God allows us to experience loss so we can make room for something else. But not always. The thing about loss is that it still leaves a hole. We cannot just replace those things we lose with similar things. We replace the loss with God. And we use that hole that loss creates to put God in there. He is the one that fits perfectly into loss. 

How Rejection is Not Wasted

Exodus 2:11-15

The second thing Moses found during this time was rejection. Rejection is not the end either. Neither does rejection indicate that we have thwarted God’s plan. Sometimes we are rejected because of something we did. I share that story in my book. But sometimes we are rejected because of something someone did. When we left Honduras it felt like a huge and terrible rejection. 

I’m sure Moses felt that way when the Israelites rejected him as their leader. Defeated. He basically gives up. I’m not sure what all Moses thought, but I felt like when those ministry people rejected me as a writer, they were also rejecting me as a person and then I felt rejected by God. 

I’m here to tell you and myself that rejection by other people is NEVER a rejection from God. Maybe God uses that rejection to move us. I’m sure God is moving me into something else, but at the time it hurts. Rejection is NOT fun and it hurts a lot. But. Rejection is also not wasted. 

a Pathway

Rejection is sometimes the pathway God uses to move us into a season we would have never walked before. 

Think about your own life and how God might have used rejection to move you. 

I can tell you story after story about doors opening up in my writing life and even our family’s life. But do you want to know the truth? 

Most of those doors would have never opened if we hadn’t first been rejected. If I hadn’t first let go and walked away or been asked to walk away from something else. 

I’m not saying God will open a door every time we are rejected and this certainly doesn’t give people the excuse to hurt us and reject us, but we can see that our wonderful and loving God can use rejection as a way to move us forward in this life. 

How Wilderness Seasons Are Not Wasted

One of the deepest and hardest times I remember facing was after my grandmother died, some of my childhood friendships fell apart, and I was a new young mom. I struggled with depression and finding a purpose. When your days feel like groundhog days you feel like you might go insane. Everyday was filled with the same routine. Same thing. I felt like a cycle and I didn’t like it. 

Motherhood was a lot harder than I thought it would be and I was just starting out. Jason was doing his residency which meant 100 hours of work a week for him. Hours and hours alone was very isolating. But it was during that very hard season I began to study God’s word. I started taking online Bible classes through a college in Indiana. I started reading and really learning how to understand the Bible on my own. 

That season of wilderness was one that has served me so well as I’ve walked through other desert seasons. I hope you enjoy the homework this week because Moses’ desert season is one that will encourage your heart. No matter what you are walking through I want to leave you with this thought: 

Our waiting is never wasted. 

Maybe you feel like you are in a horrible season of loss, rejection, wilderness living and you are just waiting for God to show up. 

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14

God’s strength is sweet.

You can read more about my “desert” season in my Bible study here.