How to Activate God’s Upcycle Process Through Gratitude
I saw the van pull out in front of me and knew immediately that I had nowhere to go. A crash was unavoidable. It was going to be bad. Really bad. I let go of the steering wheel and smashed right into the side of that van going approximately 55 miles per hour.
In that split second as my car began to crumple, I thought I was going to die. Suddenly everything stopped. Instantly I felt intense pain and was gasping for air. But I was alive. The seatbelt held and saved my life. It also chipped my sternum and cut and bruised me from left shoulder to right hip. My torso was pretty much every color of the rainbow over the next couple months. I had some minor cuts and bruises on my right leg, but otherwise I was unscathed.
God’s (upcycle) plan
What caused the most damage saved my life. I was 19 then and have since watched a similar scenario play out on multiple occasions. The experiences that caused me the most pain have led to the best outcomes. Often what has started out as bad, God has upcycled into something of value.
That car accident eventually paid the bill for me to spend a semester abroad while I was in college. An experience that changed my life for the better was only possible because of the settlement I received from the other driver’s insurance. It was a trip I took alone, so God and I got close. He took a painful, costly mess and produced something wonderful.
God is the original upcycle artist. I’ve learned gratitude triggers the process. First, though, we must find and choose gratitude. We don’t often see what He’s done until we can give thanks in all situations. Gratitude for Him, and the situation that drives us to Him, shouldn’t waiver.
Seeing God in his upcycle work
He began to teach me this after the deaths of my parents. When my mom died, I was a brokenhearted mess. I clung to those pieces for all I was worth because it felt like I would be letting go of her. I was so full of grief I couldn’t hold anything else. I didn’t have room to hold gratitude. I didn’t heal properly because I refused to find and give God my gratitude in the moment.
A few years later when my dad died, I was broken and gasping for air once again. I made the decision to choose gratitude and give all the mess to Him. I don’t know why I approached it differently the second time around–maturity, the prayers of my parents, or just simply God’s mercy. I turned the grief loose and began to focus on how grateful I was to have had the parents I had.
As I began to dig in this spot, I realized that I was grateful for my parents, but mostly I was grateful that they taught me about Jesus. I kept trying to get to the roots of my gratitude. Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 began to strike a chord. God’s will is that we give thanks in all things – even painful things that break us into pieces both physically and emotionally.
When we give thanks in the middle of our brokenness, we begin to see God in His upcycle work. That is the place we are pliable enough for Him to shape us back into something of greater value. He can take something that seems awful and turn into something wonderful.
With my hands free of the broken pieces, God gave me new Kingdom tasks to write and speak for Him. It has upcycled my heart and life into something that wouldn’t have been the same without the brokenness. Once again, what had caused the most damage, saved my life. The turning point was when I found thankfulness for the difficult circumstances that drove me closer to God. Anything that gets us closer to Him is worth the cost.
If you’ve been broken, it likely will be difficult but give thanks. Dig, pray, read the Word until you find gratitude. It will ignite God’s upcycle process, and you might realize that what initially caused damage saved your life.
Meet Robyn Rison Chapman
Robyn Rison Chapman is a finder of hope and passionate encourager. She was an award-winning journalist and successful grant writer before leaving those careers to spend more time with her family. It was during a season of family grief that she began to feel God calling her into more faith-filled writing. She is the author of the devotional book “Ordinary Walks With An Extraordinary God,” writes regularly on her blog, www.hopeanyway.com, and occasionally provides guest posts for other sites. Her devotions run daily on WEMM radio. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram.
Robyn is active in her church and has taught numerous Sunday School classes and Bible studies. She also enjoys baking, traveling, sports and deep conversations. She lives in southern Ohio with her husband Derek and sons Jack and Max.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
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If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
