On a recent visit to see my sister Suzy, I got to see the new plants in her backyard vegetable garden, like watermelons, carrots and a half a dozen corn stalks. Suzy later asked if I noticed the cherry tomatoes maturing in a corner.
She called them "volunteers," explaining that she didn't intentionally plant them. They had sprung to life from her compost pile: a stash of banana peels, apple cores and, apparently, tomato seeds.
That's what God often does in our lives.
He takes our stinky sin, our overripe shame -- our junk -- and makes something new and useful from it.
Like Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Sin isn't good. Loss and hardships are painful. But God can take anything -- what seems like refuse -- in the life of a believer and make good come out of it.
Think of the Cross. It was horrible, grueling. But through Christ's sacrifice we have eternal life.
As I bit into one of those cherry tomatoes, I thought about how thankful I was for the unexpected life that burst out of Suzy's compost pile.
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