Nothing Is Ever Wasted

In term four last year my wife and I had the extraordinary privilege of spending three months in Nhulunbuy, a small town in far north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. 

I say privilege intentionally here; words could not begin to reflect what it was like to step into such an ancient landscape. 

We arrived into the damp, humid, lethargic season otherwise known as the ‘build-up'' to the wet season. 38 degrees, 90% humidity; for the locals it's either the pool or the pub to cool down. What also comes at this time of year is the back-end of the burn-off season. 

A time of preparing the soil and land for the growth of the next season to come.

The smell of smoke is ever-present with its dim haze that can blanket the town in an afternoon; the charred landscape surrounding the town is an ancient throwback to tribal tradition and ancient relationship with mother-country.  We have a complicated relationship with fire down here in the south. 

We have been scarred by numerous seasons of fire and destruction and in recent years have witnessed some of the most horrific consequences that bushfires can bring. And so as I would walk each day through this charred northern country my initial response was fear and confusion.   

And then one day, as I was walking down a red-dirt track I was reminded, in a moment of stillness, of the important work being done before my eyes; from death there is life, from destruction there is new growth, from the fires brings germination and new shoots.  

Or, as Jesus said in John 15, branches are pruned not to destroy but to create new growth, new faithfulness, and new perspectives. 

Sometimes we actually need the dead wood to be pruned off the tree for the new fruit to grow, even though it may not feel good at the time. 

We have been through some difficult, challenging, anxious, sleepless and mentally exhausting moments over the past two years. It takes courage to look beyond the difficult and challenging circumstances that life throws our way and to try to find the positive, fresh and invigorating paths forward. 

That being said, may I say this… nothing is ever wasted, nothing is ever lost. We grow from the path that we walk upon. God knows you, He knows your story, He knows the cries of your heart and the wandering of your feet. There are always new seeds growing if we take the time to see.  

Isaiah 43: 18- 19 says this: 

“Forget the things that have passed… See, I am doing something new! It springs up over there… I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in wastelands.”

May you take courage this year and may this year be a year of newness, freshness and hope. May the laughter of children and the nuzzle of a dog’s wet nose be reminders of the new shoots, the good things, that are all around us. May this new season be a season of hope, opportunity and new ways of living… profound reminders of a God of love and rich abundance.