A Perfectly Good Container

So, what’s on my mind?

There are few things more universal than opening the refrigerator and finding leftovers stored in a container that definitely used to hold something else. At our house, sour cream containers seem to have a second career after the sour cream is gone. Cottage cheese containers become soup bowls with lids. Butter tubs become homes for spaghetti, green beans, or mac-n-cheese. I mean, we own actual food storage containers. We have cabinets full of them. And yet somehow an empty Cool Whip container still feels “too good to throw away.”

I think somewhere deep inside we hear the voice of a parent or grandparent saying, “Now don’t throw that away…that’s still a perfectly good container!” Part of it is probably just being frugal. Part of it is being practical. But I also think there is something meaningful about seeing value in things that others might overlook.

Our world can sometimes be quick to discard people. Once someone makes mistakes, gets older, slows down, struggles, or no longer seems “useful,” society has a tendency to move on. But thankfully, God does not work that way.

Throughout scripture, God repeatedly uses ordinary people, overlooked people, and people others had written off. Moses thought he had missed his chance. Peter failed publicly. Zacchaeus was despised. The disciples themselves were not the people anyone would have expected to change the world. And yet God saw value where others did not. Maybe that’s one of the beautiful truths of grace: God never looks at a person and says, “Well, I guess they’re no longer useful.” Instead, God continues to use us, redeem us, and fill our lives with purpose.

So, the next time you open the refrigerator and discover leftover mac-n-cheese in a sour cream container, maybe let it serve as a small reminder: thank God that He is in the business of reusing, restoring, and finding value in ordinary vessels. Also, maybe a little heads up on the container switcheroo. Nobody likes thinking they’re about to open sour cream and discovering lima beans.

May God hold you,
Rev Chris Hester