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In Proverbs 1:20, the Bible says that “wisdom crieth… in the streets.” I have always loved that verse. In my eight grade English class at Holy Redeemer Elementary School in Freeport, NY, Mrs Cosgrove taught us that in this verse, the author uses a literary technique called personification. Wisdom is a quality, not a person. And qualities don’t have voices and don’t cry in the street. But personification is investing inhuman attributes with human characteristics. It is often easier to understand certain attributes if we can imagine them as people. Seeing wisdom “crying in the streets” is an awesome way to understand how wisdom operates. Wisdom just isn’t in guided palaces or posh precincts. Wisdom can take up residence on any street corner. And wisdom does not whisper. Wisdom blares like a trumpet. To the attentive (and usually discerning), wisdom cries in the street.

Earlier this week, wisdom cried out to me. I wasn’t on the street, but I was in a garage (close enough, lol). I went to pick up a guest from the airport. After circling through several levels of the parking garage, I finally found a spot right by the elevator. When I pulled in and stepped out of my car, I noticed a bunch of trash on the floor. It looked like the previous occupant of the space decided to dump his/her astray, and the pile was right underneath my feet. I took a picture of what was in the pile.

The picture of what was in the pile is the picture in this blog. If you scroll back up to the top and take another look at the photo, you will see several items:

A few cigarette buts

An empty box of Newport Cigarettes

An empty bag of Cheetos

Sunglasses

An empty muscle milk bottle

A pen

A parking ticket

Also, you can see that there is also something else. There are several coins. In that garage, wisdom cried out to me. It screamed many things, but perhaps the most important truth was that it reminded me of is that there is always treasure in your trash!

Y’all know what I did!? I picked up those coins! I suurrrree did!. It was 75 cents. I left that garage 75 cents richer, but also without a profound reminder of how much stuff we throw away. 75 cents is not a lot of money. (Well, in Mexico, it’s almost 15 pesos!) But like my Daddy used to say, it’s more than I had before I found it. The point is, someone had thrown MONEY away! Seeing this immediately brought 3 questions to my mind:

How much money have you thrown away?
What else have you (mistakenly) thrown or might be in the process of throwing away?
Have you ever felt like someone threw you away?

To save all of us too much anger and grief this morning, let’s save the first two questions for another day. LOL. What really resonated with me in this photo was seeing those coins surrounded by and in the midst of all that other trash. Besides the pen (which may have not had any ink) and the sunglasses (which may have been broken), those coins had actual value—but had been tossed aside like they were worthless.

Have you ever felt thrown away?

Has anyone ever thrown you away? When we are rejected, betrayed, or abandoned, we can feel worthless. When we make mistakes, or experience repeated failures, we can assume that we don’t have much to offer or that our best is never good enough. But we must always remember that we have value. Our value is not based on what other people think of us, or even what we think about ourselves.

My value is not determined by my salary, relationship status, credit score, zip code, or education level.

My value is not determined by how many rooms are in my home or how many horsepower are in the engine of my car.

My value is determined by my Creator, and the price he paid to redeem my soul on Calvary.

Don’t be so quick to throw away your dreams, ideas, aspirations, or plans.

There is treasure in your trash. Sometimes that value is hard to see because it is surrounded by so much other debris. But your value will be seen. And God is going to send somebody to come pick you up.

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. Psalm 40:1-3

There's Treasure In Your Trash