A Kiss from Rose | Be Careful What You Discard
What looks useless to you may still be useful to God.
Some people are easy to overlook.
They’re complicated. They’ve made mistakes. Their past isn’t pretty. Their personality may aggravate you. They don’t fit the image. They require patience. Maybe they’ve been rejected, judged, talked about, written off, or reduced to the worst thing they’ve ever done.
And sometimes, if we’re not careful, we begin deciding who has value based on how useful they appear to us.
But God has a history of revealing purpose in people others have overlooked, underestimated, and almost discarded.
Look at Moses.
Before he ever stood before Pharaoh, Moses was a vulnerable baby placed in a basket among the reeds of the Nile because Pharaoh had ordered Hebrew baby boys killed. (Exodus 1:22; 2:1–10.)
Imagine looking at that little basket and having absolutely no idea that inside it was a man whose name we would still be speaking thousands of years later.
And Moses wasn’t flawless.
He grew up and killed an Egyptian. He fled Egypt. Later, when God called him, Moses questioned his own ability and told God he wasn’t an eloquent speaker. (Exodus 2:11–15; 4:10.)
Yet God saw something beyond the basket.
Beyond the mistake.
Beyond the insecurity.
God saw Moses.
And He used him to lead Israel out of Egypt.
Then there’s the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus told her:
“Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband…” — John 4:18 (KJV)
Scripture doesn’t tell us how those marriages ended, so we shouldn’t assume five divorces. But we know her relationship history was complicated.
And Jesus knew it too.
Yet He still sat there and spoke with her.
He didn’t pretend her situation didn’t matter, but He didn’t reduce her entire identity to it either.
And after that encounter?
She went into the city telling people about Jesus, and Scripture says many Samaritans believed because of her testimony. (John 4:28–30, 39.)
The woman somebody might have whispered about became the woman telling everybody about Jesus.
That’s God.
He can look beyond what everybody else has decided is the whole story.
Peter denied Jesus three times. (Luke 22:54–62.)
Somebody could’ve called him disloyal and finished.
Jesus restored him. Peter later stood preaching Christ. (John 21:15–19; Acts 2.)
Paul persecuted believers. (Acts 8:3; 9:1–6.) Somebody could’ve looked at his history and said, “Absolutely not. God can’t possibly use HIM.”
God transformed him.
Rahab was known as a prostitute. (Joshua 2:1.) Yet she acted in faith, is honored in Hebrews 11:31, and her name appears in the genealogy of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5.)
David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged circumstances that led to Uriah’s death. (2 Samuel 11.) God confronted him. David repented. There were serious consequences. (2 Samuel 12; Psalm 51.)
But even David’s worst chapter didn’t become the only chapter of his life.
💌 Grandma’s Corner
Be careful what you discard.
Be careful who you decide has nothing to offer.
Be careful who you call too messy, too difficult, too flawed, too damaged, too aggravating, or too far gone.
That person may not look beneficial to you.
They may not fit your church.
They may not fit your organization.
They may not look like the person your business would choose.
They may not have the presentation you prefer, the background you respect, or the personality you find easy to deal with.
But your inability to recognize their purpose does not mean purpose isn’t there.
Now hear this clearly: purpose doesn’t excuse harmful behavior. Grace doesn’t eliminate accountability. And being gifted doesn’t automatically qualify someone for every position.
But a flaw is not the same thing as worthlessness.
You may see a basket.
God sees Moses.
You may see a complicated relationship history.
God sees a testimony coming.
You may see Peter’s denial.
God sees restoration.
You may see Paul’s past.
God sees transformation.
You may see Rahab’s reputation.
God sees faith.
You may see David’s failure.
God sees repentance and a story that isn’t finished yet.
Whew.
So before you throw somebody away because they don’t look useful to you, remember:
God may have put something inside them that wasn’t designed to benefit only you.
Maybe their gift is for somebody you haven’t met.
Maybe their testimony will reach somebody you can’t reach.
Maybe their experience will solve a problem your organization hasn’t encountered yet.
Maybe the person sitting quietly in the corner is carrying an idea that changes the entire room.
Maybe underneath the rough edges is leadership.
Underneath the insecurity is courage.
Underneath the scars is testimony.
Underneath the mistakes is wisdom learned the hard way.
And underneath the person you almost dismissed…
there may be something that changes history.
Because if God required flawless people before He could use them, the Bible would be a whole lot shorter.
And so would the line of people He could use today.
Be careful what you discard.
The person you see as flawed may already be in the hands of a God who specializes in redeeming, restoring, transforming, and revealing purpose.
And baby, when God gets finished…
you may discover that what you almost threw away was carrying something you desperately needed but didn’t have the vision to recognize yet.
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