VL - Issue 43- April 22
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STEPPING FORWARD<br />
Restored<br />
to Usefulness<br />
I HAVE HEARD THAT ONE<br />
person’s junk is another person’s<br />
treasure. One of my favorite<br />
hobbies is to wander<br />
through thrift stores looking<br />
for a bargain. The aisles contain<br />
things that might qualify<br />
as junk to some, but for some<br />
reason, their previous owner<br />
donated them instead of dumping<br />
them. I love it when I find<br />
something that I need or that I<br />
know I might use. On a recent<br />
treasure hunt, I found an old<br />
guitar collecting dust behind<br />
a counter. I recognized it right<br />
away as a Yamaha.<br />
The color of the wood of an<br />
acoustic guitar can help identify<br />
its age. The older the guitar,<br />
the richer the tone. By the dark,<br />
almost orange tint of this one,<br />
I could tell it had seen many<br />
years and plenty of tough times.<br />
It looked water damaged and<br />
had a large crack in its upper<br />
side. Its neck was bowed, and<br />
residue caked its strings. Despite<br />
these blemishes, I decided<br />
that this old Yamaha needed a<br />
home and some tender love and<br />
care. With a little negotiating,<br />
I bought it for $60. The case I<br />
carried it home in looked even<br />
worse than the guitar itself.<br />
I took my new treasure to my<br />
favorite guitar repair guy, Bobby.<br />
He’s a master at repairing<br />
instruments. He looked it over<br />
and shook his head.<br />
“Bad, huh?” I asked.<br />
“Not good,” he replied. “I<br />
think we can fix her up so she’ll<br />
at least be playable though.”<br />
“That’s all I want.” I left<br />
knowing the old guitar was in<br />
capable hands.<br />
Two weeks later, the repairs<br />
were complete. I was excited<br />
to go pick up my restored<br />
treasure.<br />
BY KENNY MUNDS<br />
Bobby had a big smile on his<br />
face when I walked in. “Try her<br />
out and tell me if she’s okay.”<br />
I was more than pleased.<br />
Bobby had worked a miracle<br />
to bring the old instrument<br />
back to life. To top it off, he only<br />
charged me for the strings. Talk<br />
about God’s favor in action!<br />
My “new” Yamaha has a<br />
beautifully rich sound and a<br />
renewed purpose. I even take<br />
it to prison events and tell this<br />
story during my performances<br />
to encourage those who think<br />
a restored life is out of reach.<br />
Many people think there’s no<br />
hope, that God couldn’t possibly<br />
want or use them for anything<br />
good. But 1 Corinthians<br />
6:20 says, “You were bought at<br />
a price. Therefore honor God<br />
with your bodies” (NIV).<br />
Every one of us is in bad<br />
shape before we are “purchased”<br />
by God through the<br />
blood of His precious Son.<br />
We might feel beaten down,<br />
tossed aside, and abandoned<br />
with little hope, but when we<br />
put our faith in Jesus, we put<br />
ourselves into the hands of the<br />
master repairman. No matter<br />
what dark place we’ve come<br />
from, He gives us lives full of<br />
meaning and purpose that we<br />
never thought possible.<br />
I’ve witnessed this hundreds<br />
of times in the lives of people<br />
I have ministered to. I’ve seen<br />
lost souls surrender to Jesus<br />
behind prison walls, and as<br />
they grow older and wiser and<br />
their roots in the Lord grow<br />
down deep, their knowledge<br />
and perception deepen as<br />
well. They become beautiful<br />
instruments that God uses to<br />
teach and mentor the younger<br />
inmates coming in fresh off the<br />
street.<br />
Jesus warned us that we<br />
would not live without difficulty,<br />
but we can all cling to<br />
the promise that He will restore<br />
us, confirm us, strengthen us,<br />
and establish us by His grace<br />
(1 Peter 5:10).<br />
Occasionally, I’ll take my<br />
old Yamaha guitar in to repair<br />
a crack here and there. In the<br />
same way, sometimes life causes<br />
damage to me—and when it<br />
does, I make another visit to the<br />
foot of the cross, and I pray that<br />
I will remain a useful instrument<br />
despite the wounds I’ve<br />
suffered.<br />
Do you need restoration? It<br />
doesn’t matter whose fault it<br />
is or how you got to where you<br />
are—in God’s eyes, you are not<br />
junk. Your life is valuable to<br />
Him. If you are willing to put<br />
everything that is damaged into<br />
the hands of the master repairman,<br />
He will keep His promise<br />
to clean you up and make you<br />
new and useful once more (2<br />
Timothy 2:20–21).<br />
KENNY MUNDS takes the good<br />
news of God’s love and forgiveness<br />
into prisons across America. To<br />
learn more about his ministry, go to<br />
kennymundsministry.org.<br />
32 <strong>Issue</strong> 02 / 20<strong>22</strong> VICTORIOUSLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM