Fabulous failure! "Amazing" accident!

I was disappointed. This new recipe sounded so good! Crock pot...butternut squash and apples...raisins.  But I left it too long, and it ended up as a weird mush.  I was tempted to throw it away, but put it in the fridge.  A couple days later, I decided I could mill the "mess" and maybe use a bit now and then in something.

I took it out... milled it...and as I was transferring it to a container, I tasted it...and was amazed!  It was delicious, and tasted just like Apple Butter! (with a very slight hint of the nutritious squash - and sugar-free!).  I was excited, because I love apple butter, and can't get it down here.  Recipes I've come across seem like a lot of work  This was so easy, with few ingredients...and all the result of a "failure"! (The recipe's below, in case you're interested.)
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On a much grander scale, something like that happened when the steward of a wedding failed to provide enough wine for the guests.  It ran out, and it was his fault! But Grace took over, and Jesus changed ordinary water into wine of such quality that the emcee was amazed!
                      I unwittingly changed a casserole into apple butter. 
                           Jesus splendidly changed water into wine!
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On an even grander scale...a cosmic scale!...something similar happened almost 2000 years ago.  People thought Jesus was going to lead the resistance against the Romans and set up his kingdom.  They were ready to fight and help Him win their freedom! Suspense and excitement!

But what happened?  The Leader of this new movement was killed.  Disappointment washed over their hearts and twisted their gut..  Had it all failed?

Three days later, they saw the result of this "failure"...and were amazed!  When Jesus, the Son of God. walked out of the grave, very much alive, He had put in place the final, crucial, part of a Divine Plan that would bring eternal freedom to anyone who believes in Him.

The result of his "failure"?  It drew me out of MY failure!  He knew what He was doing all along...we often don't! He made no mistake...we often do! What others saw as a failure was a perfectly executed plan of Love, Grace and Justice.
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The psalmist wrote: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  (Psalm 73:26)  So we can trust Him! Remember what He said:

                                   "As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
                                      so are my ways higher than your ways 
                                       and my thoughts than your thoughts."  (Isaiah 55:9)
                 
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Accidental Apple Butter
1 not-too-big butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cubed
4 green cooking apples, peeled, cored, chopped
3/4 c. raisins
(opt. about 1/3 c.chopped leek)
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg.
--Mix all in the slow cooker, leave it on High for 5 hours or till very mushy. You may want to tweak it to your taste, as ingredients vary in flavor.
--I puree it in a food mill (so the raisin skins and any stray leek pieces stay behind), but you can try the blender, or food processor.  Keep refrigerated.  So easy!

So surprised at how much this was worth...and why!

Don't ask me what it is supposed to be. We'll never know for sure!

Four years ago, when my mother was on her death-bed, and we siblings were going through the rest of her earthly possessions, I pulled this out of a drawer, and thought, "What in the world is this?"

I turned it around, turned it over...and froze.  There was a name etched...or rather "gouged" into the surface of the underside.  It read "BECKY MOORE".  I had made it!  I have no memory of doing so, but it was obviously either a school or VBS-type project, which I had given my mother as a gift, probably when I was about 6 years old.
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An incredible  feeling  settled over me.  My mother had saved this "whatever", with its misshapen edges and uneven surface, for 54 years! She never got rid of it, even though it really wasn't a potter's prize!  WHY?  It's simple:  because of who made it for her.  THAT's what gave it such worth that she hung on to it until she died.

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Here's an awesome parallel, suggested by something Max Lucado wrote.  In The Applause of Heaven, he tells of a sweater, now old and ragged, too small, that he can't throw away.  It doesn't have a use anymore, but his mother made it for him.  He says, "It is valuable not because of its function, but because of its maker."

Whenever we feel like the little clay thingy my mom kept - a bit misshapen and uneven! -  let's remember that our basic, intrinsic value isn't based on what we can do. We are valuable "because of our Maker". We are a priceless treasure because of Who created us!
                                           
Remember what God told Paul, when asked to take away a problem that seemed to lessen his abilities?  "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  (II Corinthians 12:9)

We don't have to be perfect to be valuable.   After all, "God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."   (Romans 5:8)
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All of this is important, because God made us for a specific purpose:

""Even everyone who is called by my Name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made."  (Isaiah 43:7)

"The people I formed for Myself, that they may proclaim my praise."  (Isaiah 43:21)

We do not have to be "great" or strong (or anything else that reflects us) to fulfill that purpose! Even the weak, the "misshapen" and "uneven" among us can do what we were created to do!
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And we were created twice!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new."  (II Corinthians 5:17)
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                     "I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
                            your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
                                                                                                                  (Psalm 139:14)