Read an Excerpt
Day 1
Waste-Free Zone
Before it was closed in 2012, Brazil’s Jardim Gramacho was one of the world’s largest garbage landfills. At 321 acres, it was the size of 243 American football fields! Every day around seven thousand tons of garbage (that’s the weight of more than one hundred Boeing 757 airplanes) from the Rio de Janeiro metro area arrived. And then these discarded items entered a new life.
Unofficially, the landfill had become a jobsite for scavengers, catadores in Portuguese, a community of men and women who salvaged the trash for recyclable materials. While Jardim Gramacho was still in operation, about three thousand catadores worked on the dump, wading knee deep in a sea of rotting food, busted-up glass, personal-care products, and just about every other type of garbage you can think of. But for those picking through the heaps, there were occasional rewards. The catadores fished out two hundred tons of recyclable goods each day to sell to recyclers. This brings vivid meaning to the saying “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”
The catadores lived and worked in garbage. It was the source of their livelihood and even their sustenance. They used or sold whatever they found. They ate nearly expired food spoiling under the hot sun. They hauled broken furniture to furnish their homes. Clothing too. They grabbed strangers’ shampoo bottles and toothpaste tubes to use the last dollops of product. Even though it breaks my heart that those people lived that way, I am also in awe at their ability to have seen what others could not. In their economy, nothing was wasted.
God is not limited to overseeing a landfill in Brazil. However, He has a similar value for what others consider garbage. Nothing goes to waste in His economy if it is turned over to Him. When you base the trajectory of your life in not only who you are but whose you are, you can be confident knowing He’s got your plan and purpose in control.
In this moment, you might feel hesitant about living fully mission driven. Your reluctance might stem from guilt or shame or regret from mistakes you have made or decisions that did not pan out to your benefit. Maybe life is not what you once hoped it would be. Maybe you’re afraid of going all in and living a mission-possible life because, well, what if you mess up? What if you go left when God is leading you to make a right turn? What if you take a step in the wrong direction?
So many attitudes and beliefs hold us back. At times, I’m plagued by the fear I’ll waste my life or that I won’t fully use what God has given me for His purposes. It could be why I’m a super intense guy who’s always operating in a state of urgency. (I am trying to chill a bit. I promise!) I need to remind myself that I am still a human being and that God is still God. I have to remember that even though my mission unfolds through my desires, my efforts, and my hard work, the Bible says that my times are in His hands (see Psalm 31:15).
There have been periods in my life when I felt God prompting me to do something. Sometimes it was naturally reinforced, like an opportunity that ended up with a great outcome. Other times it wasn’t so great. Still other times it was just unclear what had happened. Also, although I try to take on every day with meaning and make each twenty-four-hour zone count, sometimes I’m tired, or I spend my day putting out fires, or what ends up being best is simply spending a day with my mom or dad. Even when I make a mistake or am wrong about something, I can look back and say with certainty that God has not wasted anything in my life that I have turned over to Him. And knowing that truth in the depths of my spirit, I am able to live a mission-possible life.
Before you dive deeper, I want you to try to put some things to rest. What attitudes or beliefs are holding you back from living mission possible? Shame from a past mistake? Feelings of unworthiness? Discouragement? Maybe you have been so overwhelmed with the responsibilities of life that you can’t see beyond just treading water. Whatever it is, I promise you something: God does not want you to waste your life. And if you give Him what is holding you back right now, He will use whatever you give Him for His glory and to make a difference.
