8-16-26 “Nothing Is Wasted in God’s Hands”
“Nothing Is Wasted in God’s Hands”
I want to start with something funny that I found on the internet: Two little boys were best friends at church, but they both had a reputation for getting into trouble. One Sunday, one of the boys was home sick, but the other boy, not wanting to let his friend down, was twice as bad as usual.
As he was running through the sanctuary after church, the pastor grabbed him and angrily asked, “Where’s God?!” The little boy was frightened and didn’t know what to say. The pastor continued, “I want you to go home and think about it, and I don’t want you to come back until you can tell me where God is.”
The boy went home and called his sick friend on the telephone. “Guess what,” he said. “They’ve lost God, and they’re trying to blame that on us, too!”
Where is God? Have you ever wondered where God is? Sometimes, we specifically wonder where God is when we experience something unexpected and difficult. Have you ever experienced something in your life that you never expected? Of course, at some point in your life, you have. You had a plan. You had a dream. You thought you knew where your life was going. And then, suddenly, something happened that changed everything. Maybe it was an illness. Maybe it was the loss of someone you loved. Maybe it was a broken relationship. Maybe it was a financial problem. Maybe it was a disappointment you never saw coming. And when something like that happens, we may ask: “God, where are you?” “Why is this happening to me?” Sometimes, in the middle of suffering, we may even feel that God has abandoned us.
But today’s Scripture gives us a beautiful reminder: God may be working even when we cannot see what God is doing. And today I want to share this message with you: “Nothing Is Wasted in God’s Hands.” Before we look at today’s passage, let us step back and look at the bigger story. For several months, we have been walking through the book of Genesis together. We began with Abraham. God called Abraham and said, “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1). Abraham didn’t know exactly where he was going. But he trusted God and left for the Promised Land. God promised Abraham: “I will bless you, and you will be a blessing.” Abraham probably could not imagine what God was going to do through his family.
Then came Isaac. Isaac was the child of promise, born when Abraham was 100 years old. But even Isaac’s life was not easy. He experienced conflict, uncertainty, and family struggles. Yet God remained faithful to the promise.
Then came Jacob. Jacob’s story is certainly not a perfect story. He made mistakes. He deceived his father and brother. He struggled with his family. He ran away from home. He wrestled with God.
And yet God continued to work in Jacob’s life. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. And through Jacob, God continued the promise.
And then we come to Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob’s sons. And Joseph’s life seemed to take a completely unexpected direction. He was loved by his father. He had dreams about his future. But then his brothers became jealous of him. They took his beautiful robe. They threw him into a pit. And eventually, they sold him as a slave.
Joseph’s story continued to go in unexpected directions. He became a servant in Egypt. Then he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. One disappointment followed another. If we had stopped Joseph’s story there, we might have said: “What a tragic life.” But Genesis doesn’t stop there. God was not finished. Joseph eventually became second in command in Egypt.
And now, in Genesis 45, something extraordinary happens. The whole land of Egypt and the surrounding region is suffering from a severe famine, and Joseph’s brothers have come to Egypt to buy food. Now, they are standing right in front of Joseph. And Joseph finally reveals who he is. He says: “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt”
(Gen. 45:4). Can you imagine that moment? His brothers are terrified. They remember what they did, and they are afraid that Joseph will punish them.
But Joseph says something they never expected: “Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:5) What a remarkable statement! Joseph does not deny what happened. His brothers really did sell him. His suffering was real. His pain was real. Even his years of separation from his family were real. But now Joseph can see something that he could not see when he was in the pit. God had been working all along. Through Joseph, God provided food and preserved his family—the Israelites—from the devastating effects of the severe famine.
And when we step back and look at the entire book of Genesis, we begin to see something even bigger. God was not only working in Joseph’s story. God was working through generations. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph could not see the whole picture. But God could.
These stories remind me to recall my mother. My mother lost her father during the Korean War. He was a soldier who was forcibly drafted into the war, but he never came home. My mother was the oldest daughter in her family, with two younger brothers. Because of the difficult circumstances after the war, she could not attend public school, and there were times when she did not have enough food to eat. During the day, she worked in the fields, and at night, she sewed to earn money and help support her family.
One day, someone invited her to a church. There, she received a meal and began learning to read and write in Korean and English. She was eventually baptized by an American missionary and experienced a completely different world through the church. She was deeply grateful to God. And she prayed that one day she would become a channel of blessing to others, just as God had promised Abraham: “I will bless you, and you will be a blessing.”
However, after she married my father, she could no longer attend church. My father’s family was a very traditional Confucian family, and they did not accept her going to church. Her life became even more difficult. She continued working in the fields during the day and sewing at night to support and care for her in-laws. She also had to prepare for ancestral worship every month, preparing large amounts of food for the extended family and the community.
Then, one day, my mother became ill. During that time, someone invited her back to church.
She remembered the church she had attended when she was young—the place where she had first experienced God’s love and grace. So, she went back to church. There, she repented for having forgotten God and prayed. She also prayed for her entire family in-law. Eventually, her whole family in-law came to faith in Christ. And she placed my life in God’s hands because she did not want her daughter to experience the same kind of life she had experienced. Perhaps, deep in her heart, she was praying that I would become a channel of blessing, just as she had once prayed for herself. That is why, when my mother was nearing the end of her life, one of her last wishes for me was: “Go to America and become a pastor.”
Looking back now, I can see something I could not see then. God was working through my mother’s story. God took her suffering, her prayers, her faith, and even the difficult circumstances of her life, and somehow wove them into a larger story. When I was younger, I could not understand my mother’s suffering. I did not know about her prayers or the hopes she carried in her heart. But now I realize that her prayers and her suffering were not wasted. She placed them in God’s hands, and God used them in ways she could never have imagined.
My beloved family in Jesus Christ, maybe you are in a joyful season today. Give thanks to God. Maybe you are in a difficult season. Hold on to God. Maybe you are in a season you don’t understand. Trust God. Because one day, you may look back and see something you cannot see today.
So, remember: Your tears, struggles, waiting are not wasted. Even your painful experiences are not wasted. When we place them in God’s hands, God can redeem them. God can transform our sadness into joy. God can transform our wounds into compassion. God can transform our experiences into ministry. And God can transform our stories into testimonies.
So, whatever you are carrying today, lift it into God’s hands. Trust the God who was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And trust the God who is with you in every chapter of your life. You may not understand your story today. But remember: God sees the whole story. And because God is still at work—Nothing is wasted in God’s hands.
Thanks be to God. Amen!