A while back my dad cleaned out his garage. Believe me, it was a major challenge. Things had accumulated in that space for a number of years and many of those things were treasures from my childhood.
In all that stuff, I found my rock collection as well as a bunch of deflated basketballs and footballs, old baseball bats, baseballs without the covers on them—all kinds of things.
One of the forgotten little treasures found hidden away was a toy called The Strange Change Machine. It was still in perfect condition. Everything was intact. I took it in order to show it to my children, but I ended up playing with it for about two hours.
The Strange Change Machine came with a bunch of little plastic squares that are so hard you can’t bend or break them. You begin by plugging the machine in to heat it up. After waiting several minutes, you drop one of the plastic squares into a special chamber located on top of the machine. In just a few moments, the plastic square starts to evolve into something else. It begins to change shape, and before you know it, you’ve got a bird, a dinosaur, or some other animal.
It’s an amazing little toy. One minute there is just a hard square of plastic. You can’t see any lines or shapes on it. The square looks totally unalterable, fixed. You can’t imagine that it could be anything other than a plastic square. But when you put it in the machine and apply a little heat, it’s totally transformed. It becomes something new and different.
As I played with that machine, I suddenly realized that it’s a great picture for how God can work in any situation in your life. While things may seem hopeless and unchangeable, if you will turn everything over to God, He can turn it all around and create something good from it.
Deuteronomy 23:5 says, The LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing. The word turned in this verse is the same word we find in Exodus 7:14-15, where the Lord tells Moses to confront Pharaoh with the rod which was turned to a serpent.
You’ll remember that when Moses appeared before God at the burning bush, God told him to throw down his rod. When Moses obeyed, God turned the rod into a serpent. God totally changed the nature of that rod. When Moses was holding the rod, it didn’t look like it could possibly be anything other than a rod. But when Moses let go of it and let God have it, God was able to totally transform it.
Friend, when you let go of your problems and give them to God, HE CAN CHANGE THINGS. He can transform the impossible into the possible.
He can turn a curse into a blessing… your mistake into a miracle.
You say, “Okay, I believe God can change things for me, but why should He? Why would God do that?”
Deuteronomy 23:5 tells us why! The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
God loves you, my friend. He cares for you, and that’s why He will turn your situation around. That’s why He is willing to turn your mistake into the greatest miracle in your life—because He loves you. Yes, God loves you!
So no matter what you’re going through today, give it over to God. When you do, watch what He does to turn your situation around.
Answers with Bayless Conley broadcasts practical teachings of the Bible to its viewers in a non-religious way. For years, Bayless Conley struggled with drugs and alcohol while searching for answers. It was not until he was more than 20 years of age that a 12-year-old boy showed him the powerful reality of a relationship with Christ. Since 1979, the Lord has opened the television airwaves to the Answers program, which currently airs each week in more than 100 nations around the world.
