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DISCARD means to reject and get rid of something no longer useful or desirable; to throw something away because it is useless or unwanted. A Brazilian baby was buried alive in eight inches of soil by his distraught mother in 2006. Neighbors retrieved him with his placenta when a dog started digging around. They took him to the hospital where he was fed, bathed and placed in an orphanage. They said he fared remarkably well, despite being discarded. In my search, there were other more graphic images of babies covered with feces from being left in toilets, or dead in swaddling clothes. Many more children are rejected and abandoned yearly in the US and around the world in circumstances not quite so dire. I happen to have been one of them, and occasionally I feel some residue. The origin of discard is ‘rejecting a playing card.‘ In bridge, whist, spades or similar games, a card is ‘thrown off’ which is neither of the suit led nor a trump and thus has no value. I’ve found solace in Psalm 27:10 “My father and mother walked out and left me, but God took me in.“ (MSG) My valueless card has great worth to God!
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You don’t have be an orphan to have felt discarded. This sense of being cast aside or thrown away can happen when scorned by a lover, in illness, when dismissed from a job, or as we age. In my prayer time, the Lord revealed some internal issues He wanted to heal that I wasn’t aware of. It’s not just due to not knowing my biological family, but other painful, rejecting incidences over the years that have caused me to withdraw. I offered excuse…REASONS, “I’m just glad to be anywhere!” “I don’t think of myself too much.” “I’m a simple, child-like person.” “Trying to stay under the radar,” undetectable, unnoticed and out of trouble. He asked, “How do you feel about having been discarded?” That was a loaded question! and it stung.
Isaiah writes prophetically of Jesus, “He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care.” (Isa. 53:3, NLT) How do I feel? On occasion I’ll feel a gut-wrenching knot, an indescribable emptiness, grief or vacancy. I know it’s not Christian cache to admit it nowadays, but experiences like these allow us in part to know Christ and experience the fellowship of His sufferings. (Phil 3:10) We get what it’s like to be betrayed, to no longer fit in, to lose relationships and feel great sorrow. It turns our stony-self-centered hearts into hearts of flesh. We feel compassion because we’ve been there. We can run toward trouble. Being discarded is great fertilizer for ministry. It brings authenticity and a genuineness that results in a more credible witness. How do I feel about being discarded? I feel more real. I’m doing remarkably well despite it, and I’m grateful!
