Rivers In The Wasteland

This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. The prompt today is “waste.”

Sometimes it seems like such a waste.

I attended a thanksgiving service last week for a wonderful Christian leader. Since his retirement a few years ago, he has served enthusiastically as a volunteer in various ministries as well as being a devoted grandad. He seemed so full of life and passion, with so much more to give. It looked like he would have many years of fruitful service ahead of him, but then suddenly he was gone.

It seems like such a waste.

Last night I heard of a woman who took her own life – someone I vaguely recognised from my previous church, but who I never knew personally. As my friend told me of this woman, of how capable she was, of how she cared for others and used her gifts to serve God, but also of how she suffered from devastating mental illness which ultimately took her life, it made me sad.

It seems like such a waste.

Also, this week, I heard that my childhood church building was declared unsafe and condemned. The congregation worshipped there on Sunday, and on Tuesday night they were told that they could never even enter the building again. I’m still processing this, and I’m sure I’ll write more, but when I think of the faithful people there, some of whom have been part of that church for over 60 years, I’m heartbroken at the sense of loss they must be feeling. And when I think of the efforts that have been put into community outreach there over the last few years and consider the uncertainty of how, or even whether, these things will be able to continue, it’s easy to feel discouraged.

It seems like such a waste.

But I know that God wastes nothing, and that in all things he works for good. Sometimes it can be hard to see, but even in the pain and confusion, he is still sovereign.

“I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19 NLT)

Nothing is wasted and there is always hope.

We have lost a great Christian leader, but his legacy lives on. At a time when there have been so many scandals involving Christian leaders, it is refreshing to celebrate one who was humble and godly.

Another life has been taken, seemingly far too soon, but the woman from my former church is finally free of the mental illness that plagued her for so long.

And who knows what lies ahead for my childhood church?

It’s a complicated situation for reasons beyond the closure of the building, but I remember a song I used to sing in the Sunday School there with the lyrics, “The church is not a building; the church is the people.”

It seems like a waste just now, but maybe, just maybe, God is doing something new.