Go Green!

So what’s the word on the street?
GO GREEN! At least that is what the word on the streets, here! Well, during this past week of CSM Toronto- I was able to take much from the green movement and apply it to all matters spiritual!
Now, please, before you get twisted up, this by no means has anything to do with a political campaign or any movement really; however, it has everything to do with spiritual matters and even so the campaign of Jesus Christ!
Some of you may be wondering, how does going green relate to God? For those of you not familiar with recycling or the “Canadian way”- there are several types of waste baskets; Compost, paper, plastic etc.
So for those non-recyclers, things that we assume are just waste, trash, garbage, or worthless we simply throw it away without a second thought! No big deal, eh?
This same thing could be said about the “waste” or failures in our lives, or even the things that don’t go according to “our” plan. We write it off as “trash” or something that God can’t or won’t use.
We might say things like, “How can God use me, when I am such a failure.” In that same way, CSMers are likely to say, “I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone on the streets” after working at a ministry site, or something like “I didn’t make an impact on anyone.” By the end of the trip, they might even say, “I didn’t change anyone’s life” or “I didn’t bring anyone to Christ!” We have heard it all!
In our small finite perspective, we can’t see that God can use those things that we are so quick to disregard, toss out or write off as waste.
What we don’t realize is that in all God’s infinite sovereignty, he is truly a recycler. I might even go so far to say that He is GREEN! Simply put, He takes our waste to create something green and full of life, like compost if you will! So those things that we have written off as useless, God has a plan for!
If you’re wondering what led to this whole idea of “recycling,” it was working at ministry site. In my eyes, I saw that we had dropped the ball. I felt as though, we didn’t give enough, do enough, work hard enough. Basically, I felt as though we were not enough. I saw that God couldn’t use it and I unfortunately wrote it off as a bad day at the ministry site!
The irony was that our task was to pick up “trash” in the Regent Park, Toronto’s oldest subsidized housing complexes. And yes of course, one of the bags was blue, specifically for recyclable items! We were there to pick up garbage- and interesting enough that was all that I could see.
I couldn’t see that getting our hands soiled in a garden started because of one’s vision and dream. I couldn’t see that we were cleaning what had been a place where she had wept and labored over her fallen child to violence. I couldn’t see how God was using us in the life of someone else. Me and my small limited perspective could only see garbage which we were there to pick up, however, God had plans of His own.
El Sed, the founder and visionary of the Peace Gardens busted forth with tears and gratitude as she told us how the weight of our actions truly touched her! Her radiance far outshined the flowers in that garden!
Somewhere in my personal dumpster, God allowed me to realize that He can use and do whatever He wants and my opinion doesn’t matter!
So for those of you down in the “dumps” take heart that God in all His sovereignty, has a plan for you and your trash! As John Piper says, “Don’t waste your life,” because God can “recycle” it and make something green, lush, thriving and full of life!
So friends and family- don’t waste anything! Go GREEN!
Peace and Abundant Joy,
Jessica, CSM Toronto City Host Summer 2008