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Repurposed

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It all began when my husband came home from a trip to New York City with a dragonfly lamp. Since then I have accrued quite a collection. Not just dragonfly lamps, but dragonfly stuff! I have necklaces, bracelets and pins, purses and shirts, bookmarks and magnets, and other various dragonfly doodads. Even my checkbook features dragonflies. I have a ‘thing’ for dragonflies! So when I was visiting my daughter in Hastings, MN and saw this unusual sculpture of a dragonfly I had to take a picture:

The man who created this work of art used scrap metal and other old materials to make something special and unique. He gave something that had been discarded a new purpose!

There is a restaurant in Lewiston, NY located by the Niagara River called The Silo. It’s called that because that is what it is. (Or should I say was?) Back in the1930’s the area was popular because of The Great Gorge Railway and the silo held the coal that fueled the trains. With the demise of the railroad, the silo lost its purpose. But someone had an idea and turned it into something wonderful! When I recently had lunch there, I picked up a pamphlet about the restaurant and discovered that much of the seating in the restaurant was made from old refurbished church pews.

The last line of the pamphlet reads: “The Silo itself, and the old train caboose now serving as the ice cream bar, have been rescued, recycled, and repurposed!” I like that word ‘repurposed’.

Sometimes life gives us the unexpected. And when it does, the unexpected can change the direction of our life or bring us to a dead end where we are left with questions and uncertainty. When the unexpected is a tragedy or difficulty, we may feel betrayed or discarded or lost. When the job we relied on is suddenly gone or the position we expected is given to another, we spend restless days and nights in worry. When a physical affliction or a dreaded disease strikes, we fret with fear and anxiety. When we lose a loved one and our life is forever changed, we wonder if it’s even possible to go on. And in all of this is the underlying question: What do I do now?

In the past few years my situation has changed and my role in life has been disrupted. With the death of my husband who had served as a pastor, I not only lost my mate, but I lost my role, my position and my home. At times I felt unneeded, useless and even discarded. It seemed I had lost my purpose in life. Have you ever felt that way? Like maybe you’re obsolete, like a piece of scrap metal or an empty silo.

In his book, What If It’s True, Charles Martin makes this beautiful observation, “The sovereign hand of God leaves me shaking my head, but gives me great hope. In His economy, nothing is wasted.” NOTHING IS WASTED!! What does this mean? He always has a use for you. He can take the scraps of your life and give them a purpose. When you think your purpose in life is over, He can and will give you a new purpose. You can be repurposed!

Romans 8:28 is a familiar verse: And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God, to those that are the called according to His purpose. Notice that phrase according to His purpose. Not only does He work things out for good, but He does it with purpose. We can trust that God still has a use for us, no matter the circumstances. He gives us purpose! It’s a comfort to know that we still have purpose, but it is also a responsibility. We need to discover that purpose and pursue it! I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on… (Philippians 3:13,14-NLT)

Your life isn’t about what you’ve done.
It’s about what you’re doing.
–Bassa Mawen

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What Am I Here For?

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Most people talk to themselves and that’s okay. It’s normal. I have heard it said that it’s okay to talk to yourself, just don’t answer yourself! But the problem with that lighthearted admonition is that most of the conversations I have with myself begin with a question. And it seems the older I get the more questions I have to ask myself! I ask questions like: Why can’t I sleep? What am I going to do today? Where did I put that thing? What was I doing? What was I saying? What was I thinking? (Although that last one is often said with an exclamation mark!!) Recently the question I have been asking is: What am I here for? You know the scenario. I go from one room into another, I stop and look around, and I am at a loss. I can’t remember what I wanted to do in that room, so I have to ask myself, “What am I here for?” But sometimes when I ask that question I have something deeper in mind.

What am I here for? What’s the point? What’s my purpose in this world? I feel this more now as I am elderly (I hate that word!) and disabled and dependent on others. I am a widow, my children are grown and on their own, my role in life has changed, and so I ask, What am I here for? Perhaps I am not actually asking myself, but in reality I’m questioning God.

Many years ago a children’s worker overheard a mother ask her daughter as she retrieved her from the children’s church service, “Did you have fun?” The teacher reprimanded the mother, “We’re not here to have fun.” I still cringe at the memory. What a way to dampen a child’s enthusiasm for church and for God! But her statement leads us back to the question, what are we here for?

It’s a question philosophers wrestle with and theologians strive to answer.

The great existential question that has plagued every philosopher all the way back through recorded history goes something like this:
‘Why are we here?’ To state it theistically, ‘Why were we created?’
–Tyler Staton
(Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools)

It’s not an easy question with a simple answer. We only scratch the surface of the why and the how. But I do know God’s answer for me.

When I was a young pastor’s wife, new to the ministry and full of self-doubt, I struggled with insecurity. I remember clearly attending a large conference for ministers and their spouses. I felt so small and insignificant, plain and awkward in a crowd of beautiful, successful people. I was a nobody full of self-pity. But God saw me! As the congregation stood to sing a popular chorus of that time, God spoke to me through that song. They sang: Thou art worthy. Thou art worthy, O Lord. For Thou hast created, hast all things created, and for Thy pleasure they are created… and God personalized it for me! I sang it like this: and for Thy pleasure I was created!! Imagine that! You and I exist for God’s pleasure!

That chorus is based on Revelation 4:11.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they were and are created.
–Revelation 4:11 (KJV)

Most newer Bible versions translate the phrase ‘for thy pleasure’ as ‘by thy will’. He created us, because He wanted to. The NLT puts it this way: “For you created all things and they exist because you created what you pleased.” And He is pleased with what He created! In Genesis, He calls it good. In Psalm 139 we are described as “wonderfully complex” and “marvelous”. Simply put, we are here, because He wants us here and it pleases Him. He is pleased with what He has made and that includes you.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
–Psalm 139:17 (NLT)

Certainly our being here is not just a whim to please a far away God. He is very personal and has a purpose and plan for each individual. That is made clear to us in Scripture.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
–Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

The NLT of this verse declares we are “God’s masterpiece” and the AMP describes us as “His own master work, a work of art”.
Now that’s something to think about!

When my husband passed away, I moved from a three bedroom house to one room in my daughter’s home, so I had to drastically downsize. I had choices to make. This included what pictures to keep and hang on the walls of my new room. I couldn’t take many, but one I decided to keep was a picture of a woman alone in a field with a sickle in her hand. I chose it for a reason. It’s a reminder to me that even though I no longer have my partner in ministry, as a woman alone, I still have work to do for God.

Sometimes I still struggle and wonder and ask the question, “What am I here for?” But then I remember and I tell myself that I am here for Him!

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