Trash to Treasure

Last night I wanted a snack, so I popped some popcorn in the microwave. I had a different brand of popcorn, so I looked at the cook time on the back of the bag. It said 2 to 5 minutes. So I made an executive decision to cook it 2 minutes & 45 seconds.

Bad idea!

I went upstairs to grab something and came back down to the smell of burnt popcorn filling my kitchen. I opened the microwave to a puff of smoke and steam. Not wanting to have my whole house stinking, I carefully grabbed the bag and headed straight for the door to the deck. I opened the door and tossed it out onto the deck and thought, "I'll deal with it in the morning".

As I woke up this morning, there was a little dusting of snow on the ground. Not enough to keep the kids from going to school (yeah!) but enough to make the otherwise brown looking ground pretty.


Burnt popcorn bag forgotten, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, checking my emails. I glanced out the windows to the door on the deck and saw the popcorn lying on top of the fresh snow. Then I saw a tiny, round little brown bird come out of the bag.

He's having quite a feast on my burnt popcorn!

I watched him for about 10 minutes going in and out of the bag with popcorn in his beak.

I don't know why, but this made me feel such joy! I thought of the snow, and how hard it probably would have been for the bird to find food on the ground today. I was happy that my misfortune turned out to be his blessing - my trash became his treasure.

Then I thought, God does that all the time. He takes bad situations and turns it into something beautiful.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Isaiah 61:3 - "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory."

2 Cor. 4:17 - "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."

On & on I could go with Scriptures that talk about how God turns bad things into a blessing for His children. Sometimes the blessing will be for other people, just like my popcorn helped the bird. The hard lessons we learn can be used to help encourage others who are struggling with the same thing.

2 Cor. 1:4 - "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."

If you're facing some tough situations today, be assured that if you surrender them to your Heavenly Father...He'll turn your trash into a treasure.