Nothing is Wasted: One Community Church

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Sunday morning, August 30, 2026, at One Community Church, the presence of the Living God who created us all, filled the atmosphere. 

The moment Grace Roden—our youth pastor—began to sing, there was something in her voice that I hadn't heard from her before. 


She sang with all her heart, and a powerful anointing rested upon her that instantly and actually shifted the entire atmosphere in the worship service… 


When she delivered the words, "Nothing is wasted in the Father’s hands," tears sprang into my eyes. 


I always know that God is moving and speaking when those tears roll from my eyes…


Grace is a dedicated minister that constantly pours into others and ministers to us to the body of Christ, and on this morning, Jesus used her in a mighty way. 


Through the Holy Spirit resting upon her, that anointing broke a long-time yoke that had been upon my life.


In that sacred moment, I heard the heartbeat of my Abba, who revealed Himself as my Kinsman-Redeemer. Just as a kinsman-redeemer steps in to rescue and restore what was lost, Jesus steps into the wreckage of our past. He didn't just forgive my history; He legally claimed the ruined estate of my life, buying back what was forfeited and “renovated” the lost fortune of the future that I once had.


He showed me that everything I thought was a mess in my life wasn’t a mess at all. It was simply just God rearranging these long ago blunders and traumatic childhood events. 


What I had looked back on with regret as poor decisions, that wrong choices were actually His way of moving in my life—weaving my history together to give me this message of hope for today's church.


Grace is a living example of what it means to pour your whole heart into the ministry God has called you to. 


As a youth minister, she found her true tribe, and her dedication speaks volumes to anyone in the body of Christ who is searching for their people and the place they are called and supposed to minister to. 


She proves that when you fully yield to the Lord, your obedience changes the room and the hearts of the people too.


We often carry our past like a heavy sack of rocks, but we have to allow Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer, to take over to carry that heavy load that we were never meant to carry.. 


“Nothing in our past is wasted in the Father's hands.”


He takes the very things we call failures and uses them as raw material for His grace, turning our messes into profound messages to restore the hearts of the children, to the fathers…


When we look back at the hardships we've faced, we can echo the words of Joseph in Genesis 50:20, when he looked at his own brothers—his very own family who had betrayed him and sold him into slavery—and said: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." 


Joseph understood that every painful detour served as God’s divine purpose to bring about life and preservation to all that let Jesus move and work in their lives!


As I conclude, I am reminded of the powerful promise in Joel 2:25: 


"I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten." 


Our Kinsman-Redeemer doesn't just clear the debris; He restores the very time we thought was lost. 


If you are struggling with the weight of your past today, I invite you to lay down that sack of rocks at the very foot of the cross, where Jesus was crucified and died, and now trust the hands that hold your redemption, still lives today. 


When, and it’s a  holy promise, He picks up that sack, all those heavy rocks  you have carried will not be there where you left them. 


Just like Jesus is no longer on that cross, your past has been lifted at Calvary, it is no longer there, it has died and is buried!

Father’s Hands / fest. Sabrina Osborn / Gateway ALL IN








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