Turning Our Wasteland into a Launching Site

Friend, I have good news: God is turning our wasteland into a launching site. He wastes nothing in our lives.

Everything that happens to us, every experience, every twist and turn, has meaning and purpose, preparing us for the future God has planned for us.

Perhaps you can’t make sense of your life right now. You see valuable threads in the fabric of your life cut, dreams that come to nothing, relationships facing a dead end.

It is natural to wonder what the meaning of all this is, asking God the “whys” and not comprehending the purpose.

We feel frustrated, puzzled, broken-hearted, and even devastated, unable to see the direction we are heading.

God wastes nothing in our lives. #faith #trustGod #spiritualgrowth #personalgrowth Share on X

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When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

There were so many times I felt this way, questioning and doubting. In my late 30s, I went through a long period that stretched nearly seven years, which I can only define as my wasteland, my nowhere land, the place of isolation, barrenness, and total disintegration of who I thought I was.

My life came to a halt, imprisoned in the burning desire to become a mother, marked by anxiety disorder, panic attacks, marital problems, and intense emotional pain. Here was I, in my prime, with an empty womb and empty hands. No child, and no career.

I couldn’t understand because everything started so promising. It seemed the threads in my life wove beautifully together to produce a fruitful life, dreams accomplished, and potential realized.

God gave me many talents and skills that helped me learn four languages and brought success as a student and as a communication and project management specialist.

I traveled around the world; met the love of my life; moved to the most beautiful country in Europe to start a family with him, and then… NOTHING. For seven long years, my life went downhill, and my soul seemed to split into thousands of pieces.

But this is just one part of the story.

The Painful Process of God’s Preparation

Later, I gained more understanding of what and why the Lord was doing with me, pressing me into the cubicle of suffering, like an olive that needed to be crushed, so that the precious oil may come out. This is how it felt: smashed, pressed, and crushed, inside and outside.

But then, in the middle of it, tiny golden droplets of scented oil flowed through the crevices of my wounds.

My eyes opened to the truth that the Lord was cleaning the debris and molding the clay again to produce the pot He intended all along, from the very beginning.

He was transforming me into a pure vessel He could use; an instrument “for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:20-21, NIV).”

Turning Our Wasteland into a Launching Site

My wasteland was not just a wasted time and space, covered with the debris of broken dreams, unfulfilled desires, and layers of stripped identity. No, it was a building site, in which the Lord bored deep holes and placed solid pillars of a new foundation.

This was His process of establishing me and planting me into the Rock. He knew even greater storms would come my way, and He wanted me to stand and be prepared for the rain and winds. (Matthew 7:25)

Through the messy and painful process of God-discovery (the real Him, not my imagination about Him) and self-discovery (the real me through God’s eyes, not my distorted perceptions and everyday masks), He was rebuilding me again.

The Lord was rebuilding, reviving, renewing. This was His preparation for the next chapters in my life.

The Lord is rebuilding, reviving, and renewing us as a preparation for the next chapters in our lives. #Preparation #growth #spiritualgrowth Share on X

God Wastes Nothing in Our Lives

He was molding me into a vessel He could use to bring hope and comfort to other hurting hearts. My season of barrenness birthed a new me, and God’s purposes for me in my next season.

I emerged with a mission: to encourage hurting souls to trust God in the darkness of pain and adversity so they can endure and keep their faith.

The Lord breathed meaning and purpose into every moment, which I thought was wasted. He used what I deemed useless to produce a harvest of peace, righteousness, maturity, new dreams, and assignments.

He does the same for you.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11, NIV)

Take heart, there are no dead ends with the Lord. He is the Master Builder and Transformer, bringing beauty from the ashes and new life from the graves.

Transformation Is Possible When We Draw Near to God in Our Pain

If you want to learn more about how God used my losses, grief, and other painful experiences to transform and bless me, my book,“Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings,” is for you.

Let me take you on a journey through 13 painful experiences, showing losses and the precious blessings in each of them.

More Encouragement for You

If you need more resources, encouragement, and comfort when you go through pain, grief, and despair, I can highly recommend these books. Check them out.

Trusting God in All the Things: 90 Devotions for Finding Peace in Your Every Day by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk

Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life by Denise Dubois Pass and Michelle Nietert

Life Can Be Good Again by Lisa Appelo

It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lisa Terkeurst

Hope When Life Unravels: Finding God When It Hurts by Adam Dooley

Restoration Year – a 365 Days Devotional by John Eldredge

All Things New by John Eldredge

Hope for the Hard Days by Sarah Geringer

Lean into Grace by Stacey Pardoe

This page contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. The commission I make from these items will help keep this blog going. Thank you!

Your Turn

Which part of your life makes little sense to you? How do you think the Lord can use it? Share in the comments and on social media if you found this article helpful. Thank you!

There are no dead ends with the Lord. He brings beauty from the ashes and new life from the graves. #hope #restoration #trustGod #healing Share on X

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