I can't count the number of times I got bummed out when something I bought wasn't in good working order. Or the number of times I bought something which was good for a handful of uses before it stopped working. Matter of fact, just a while ago I was complaining to my brother about a game we bought which was working fine for about four weeks. It just suddenly up and decided to stop working.
Most little kids would know how I feel when a basketball goes flat for the first time. You pump air in it only to find that the air's leaking out of a hole you never knew was there. I've got three basketballs here that I refuse to throw away even if they're too flat to use.
And of course, basketball shoes. Through the games, through the hardwood, night and day, cement, soil, asphalt, them shoes run up and down the court. The day has to come when the sole seperates. Or you realize that there's no friction there while you're running. Realizing the pads have worn out and it's too dangerous to use them any more.
All these things can't be used anymore. And it's either they lie around collecting cobwebs or they go into the trash.
Those are just small things though. What about big things. I don't know how long it's been since the day our church burned down. That was a heartbreak for us all. I'd been going to that church for, literally, my whole life. I was baptized there and I practically grew in that church. My parents got married in that church. My brother had his Confirmation in that church.
What the parish did, however, was just very overwhelming. Yes, St. Alphonsus de Ligouri church burned down. The structure, the pews, and sadly, even the crucifix.. but the church as a community did not. The ruins of the church was used for several months for bazaars to raise funds to build a new church. As of present date, there is a new church standing there. Bazaars are still being held beside the church for different causes. Back then, when it was still ruins, church activity continued. Masses were still being held in the area. Baptisms, Confirmations, and Weddings were still being held. People still celebrated each time new lectors and new lay ministers were introduced to the community. And lastly, the village youth group would still use the area for weekly prayer meetings.
A new church stands there now. It's a far cry from the church of my childhood.. but it continually serves as a reminder of the time the first church burned down.
And it's very amazing how God continued to use the church even as it's ashes stained the floor.
It was burned to the ground. All the years it had been standing.. something finally happened that caused that church to give in. It succumbed to whatever it was that was pressuring it. Faulty wiring, one of the candles started the fire, something overheated.. whatever the case.. something was the cause of the churches fall. And yet God continued to use it to do His work for Him. Yes, several people couldn't take the heat. They left for different parishes which had the luxury of aircon in their masses. But God continued to use that church to do His work and He watched as it slowly rose again.
Much like me.
And those who know the story of my life.. of how I succumbed to everything around me.
How I was on a downward spiral of self-destruction...
Of how I burned to the ground..
And of the people who gave up on me...
Those people saw how God never gave up on me. They saw me rise to my feet. They saw God working in me even though I refused to believe in myself, wallowing in self-pity.
God used the church.
God used me.
And if you think your problems are weighing you down...
Newsflash.. God can still use you.
You can be totally useless to the rest of the world... but never to Him.
