Trash or Treasure – what’s it to be?!

By Helen Jesze, 24^th January 2020

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past,”

Isaiah 43, 18 NIV

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

1 Thessalonians 5, 21 KJV

January 2020 will soon be at an end. How the time flies! Are you one of those people who make New Year resolutions? I’m not usually, but at the beginning of this year I had a definite (I believe a God-inspired) urge to go through the boxes, files, bags of papers and letters, old diaries and folders which take up much needed space in our cupboards, garage and attic, and see what treasures and what trash I can find there! All this paperwork comes from George and me personally and from our ministry. Also George wrote a diary for many years. Of course, this is not the first time I have done this, but from time to time, it is good, even imperative to go on a trash or a treasure hunt, and be even more radical!

We once rented a house in Germany from a man called Albert! He told us it had 4 rooms (apart from the kitchen and bathroom), and we said that was too small, but went anyway to look. He showed us round but there were 2 more doors he did not open, and we asked what they were. He said, “Well, they are full up now. You don’t want to look at that!” On our insistence, he reluctantly opened the doors and we saw the rooms were full with rubbish, from floor to ceiling!! There was also an attic, a barn adjoining the house, a Summerhouse in the garden – and they were all full of rubbish or trash, (as our American friends say)! He had rusty farm implements, books, broken furniture, clothes, papers, bloodstained bandages, dirty washing, etc. etc.

To make it short, Albert cleared everything out, and he and his son renovated, wallpapered and painted the house while George was in England and I was in USA for 4 weeks ministry, free of charge! Our landlord was going to sue us and take us to Court, as he wanted the apartment where we lived, but this was the time when the East-West borders were opened and hundreds of thousands of people came over into the West. We had searched for a house or apartment for 2 years, but without success. But now through Albert, God had helped us again!

Through Life, we accumulate much ‘stuff’, some of which it is important to keep. When we moved house in England 13 years ago, we needed documents and certificates which were from over 50 years before, some longer, and we could not sell the house without them. That was ‘treasure’, found among a load of trash. My mother-in-law’s sideboard took up a lot of room, so we arranged for it to be picked up by some men from a Second hand shop. As I took out the china, books and Bibles Mum had stored there, I felt impelled to look deeper, and stuffed in the books and Bibles I found almost £900! That was indeed ‘treasure’ ! God knew our finances needed a boost at that time!

Going through this material during the last few days, my feelings have been mixed. There were many happy times to relive; things which were forgotten or misunderstood suddenly took on new meaning, and it was so good to see how God had brought us through many storms, personal, family and ministry, and I was filled with praise and thanks to him. But other things I read showed where we had made mistakes, and knowingly or unknowingly — had brought failure or difficulty to ourselves, others or our ministry. At those times regret or sadness tried to swamp me, but I remembered that God had long ago forgiven us. Satan is always there to point out our faults. George used to say when Christians make a mistake, the devil takes a photo, and soon he has a whole collection! When we come asking God for something, the devil takes us through his gallery, shows us all our failures, and mocks us, saying we do not deserve God to answer our prayer!

Satan is right that we do not deserve God’s answers, but he forgets to tell us that our God shows us mercy because of what his Son, Jesus, did on the cross, and he makes us worthy, giving us the gift of his righteousness, when we repent of our sin. This is “treasure” brought out of our “trash”!

One of the great decisions when going through papers is deciding what should be thrown away, what should be kept and what should be shredded. We are both writers and when we wrote our books we had no computers (we have had them only for a few years), we have gone through countless notebooks and scrap-paper salvaged from nearby printers for our notes and ministry through the years. There were no emails; typed letters and copies took their place. Again, I thought in Life, each of us are writing ‘books’ and ‘notes’ of experiences, feelings, emotions, things which the Lord has shown us. Much of this is like water running under the bridge where we don’t pay much heed or remember. But then there are times the Holy Spirit brings some of them back and we are confronted with our positive or negative Past, words or actions, and we must decide what we should do here.

We may have had a quarrel or held a long standing grudge. We may have been treated terribly and we have buried it deep in our hearts and memory. Instead of asking for forgiveness, and for the Lord to cleanse us, and give up our bitterness, we may have stored this ‘paper’ away. This should have been ‘shredded’, but we keep it, just in case the time should come when we need to accuse or remind them of what they have done! Jesus says to us today – bring out those musty, stinking memories and bitter attitudes and get rid of them – ‘shred’ them in the blood of Jesus. Burdens and heaviness will fall off of us, as we do this. We will see clearer to discern what is really trash and what is treasure.

A friend dropped in the other day, and looking at me surrounded by my various piles and boxes, said, “I was thinking I won’t know what to do with myself when I retire in February, but looking at you, I realise my attic is full of stuff which hasn’t been touched for years!! It seems God’s speaking to me! That will be one of the things I need to do!”

So dear Friend, let me encourage you to start looking for your treasure and your trash in 2020. You may find something to remind you of what God spoke years ago and you did not follow through with it. Perhaps it was too early, but now is the time for that vision to be revived – treasure unearthed. Or if there are things you are clinging to and God says it is time they were got rid of or shredded, he will give you the strength to do this and bless you for your obedience. Don’t think the task is too big! If it is only a drawer at a time – make a start and be blessed today!