Trash: A True Story

I keep two plastic bags hanging on my bed post. One is for dirty clothes, and one is for paper trash.

Last night, I closed a chat with a friend by saying I was going to bed. Sweet dreams, he said. I thought briefly to myself about how I almost never have any dreams I can remember. 

I very, very rarely have trouble sleeping or wake up at night. But last night, I woke up suddenly at 3 or 4AM. Naturally, I thought,

“Well, this is dumb. I’m awake in the middle of the night. I guess I’ll go back to sleep.”

I reached for the sheet to curl up against the night breeze. But then I realized there was something in my hand, something by my pillow, something scattered on the mattress. It was trash from my plastic bag. Somehow, I had reached over the edge and down into the bag, and put trash in my bed. Basura.

Weird, right? That’s what I said. In my half awake state, I gathered it up and stuffed it back in the bag.

Out of nowhere, a couple of verses came to my mind. Verses that talk about trash, or basura. It says “Aun estimo todas las cosas como perdida por causa de Cristo, por amor del cual lo he perdido todo, y lo tengo por basura, para ganar a Cristo, y ser hallado en El…”

It was nice to have a Bible verse to go with things, but I wondered if it wasn’t a sign that I am treasuring earthly things more than knowing Jesus--or a warning against that tendency. Slightly disturbed by the gravity of that possibility, I went back to sleep.

In the morning, there was still some trash on the floor next to my bed. I was reminded right away of what happened, and of the verse, which I’ll put here in English for you guys:

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him” (Philippians 3:7-9, NLT). 


God never ceases to amaze me in the ways He chooses to speak to me, just when I need it.