Our local chapter of the Keep America Beautiful organization sponsors a school event each year called the "Funky Art" contest. The rules are pretty simple, students are asked to take items that normally would end up in the trash after they've been used, and turn them into some type of creative art project. When I say creative, the intent is that you just don't take a plastic coke bottle and make a decorated bottle out of it, but instead that same bottle might become a lamp stand base or a part of a car model's body. The goal is for students to look at "trash" before we just throw it away as useless, and determine if there could be another use or multiple uses for that same piece of constructive material. I have witnessed some pretty amazing transformations of items that otherwise would have "litter-aly" packed our landfills. Just as we disregard items that could have multiple benefits to them, in our lives we many times fail to look at our circumstances and current situations as profitable events for our future because we are too focused on the base level only. Just as one of the goals of KAB is to "reuse" items we too can gain so much from what has happened in our lives, and use them as building blocks for what God has purposed in your life.
Think about the life of Joseph. Joseph went from favored son to being sold into slavery by his own brothers. From there he worked his way up as a servant to become the head of a top officials home and farm. That came to an abrupt end when the man's wife falsely accused Joseph of a sexual assault. The accusation resulted in Joseph being cast into prison, but there again this was a stepping stone to ultimately becoming second in command to the Pharaoh of Egypt. At each of these life defining moments Joseph could have said "You know what, I've been dealt a bum wrap, and I've just got to accept that this is going to be my lot in life." But for those of us that know Joseph's story or as you can probably tell from what I've just shared about his life, Joseph possessed a keen sense of being able to look at what others would have disposed of as "trash" and turning it into something with meaning and purpose. How often do you allow your circumstances to dictate and limit your goals and purpose in life instead of using those very circumstances that appear to be roadblocks to stand on to get to the next goal you were created to achieve in your life?
After all the potential life defining obstacles Joseph overcame, and all the power he obtained through the process, he didn't use that as a negative motivation, Joseph used the "bad" that had happened in his life and used it as a means to help so many others including the very set of brothers that had sold him into slavery as a young lad. During a period of famine, the patriarch of this band of brothers, Jacob, sent his sons to Egypt to seek support from their leaders. Little did the brothers know that soon they would come face to face with the brother they had disposed of into slavery and lied to their father about his being killed by a wild animal.
When the two finally met, Joseph had the perfect opportunity to send his brothers away empty handed, or even to imprison them for what they had done to him so many years ago. The pain, the suffering, the fear of being put to death, all of those events could have shaped his response to his brothers and they very well could have found themselves in a dark, dreary dungeon. But listen to what Joseph told his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20. Do not be deceived, when we see trash, God sees re-purpose, when we think roadblock God sees hurdle. Just as Joseph was motivated by his faith that God had a purpose with a plan for his life and just as our students can see amazing artwork in the very items we dispose of as trash, God has a plan for your life as well. You may have to turn it upside down, you might have to reshape it to find its purpose in your life, but rest assured whatever you are currently going through, God has a plan for it to take you to the place where you are preordained to be. Don't ever allow your circumstances to define you or to limit you. Take your circumstances and turn them into your motivation, your fuel, and your compass to find the path that God has intended you to travel. Hold firm to this scripture from Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, '
Just as Joseph held on to hope and placed his faith in something he could not see for his future, you too can have that same trust and faith. Look for the beauty in the landfill, find the purpose for the trash that lies in front of you, and create a masterpiece out of the life that God has purposed for you to live!
Coach Carter
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