There are a few short verses in 1 Chronicles that are interesting to me. It is the section of Scripture where David gathered the leaders of Israel. Among this group were 38,000 Levites thirty years and older.

David divided this group and gave them specific jobs. Some were to supervise the work of the temple. Some were to be officials and judges. Some gatekeepers. And still others were to praise the Lord with the musical instruments David provided.

What a privilege this last group received. Their job was to praise the Lord. Praising the Lord was to be part of their makeup. It was to be who they were. Their job description was to “Praise the Lord.” This certainly was a blessed group.

But by this time in King David’s life, he understood praising God. As 2 Chronicles 23:1 (NIV) described him, “When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.” David had lived a long life and had learned to praise God through all of it.

As we come this morning to worship our Lord and King, let’s remember that praising Him is our “job” too. It’s what we are to do all the time. Every moment of every day. And when we are old and full of years, we too will know the blessings that we’ve received because of our praise.

We’re coming to the end of the year as well as the end of the Doll House saga. Today you’ll see chapter 12 below. I pray that you will come to understand what to do with the left over pieces of your life.

Building a Doll House: What to Do With the Leftovers – Chapter 12

As we were drawing closer to the finished product, I realized there were three pieces that didn’t seem to have any place on the house.  We had leftovers!

Two of the pieces had a sticky note on them with their respective numbers. After our cross reference, we found that one piece should have gone on the house long before. Our inspection found that there was no way it could be placed where it belonged and that the house would be just fine without it.

The piece without the sticky note was the flower box that would go on the front of the house. A pure aesthetic piece and would be one of the last things added to the house.

The third piece was puzzling. The number matched an item that was already on the house. Even more puzzling was that on the sticky note it also said “4 pieces.”  We still don’t know where this piece was supposed to go, but again, the house is sound and it doesn’t seem to be begging for this last piece of wood.

What do you think of when you hear “leftovers?” The food sitting in your fridge that will be tomorrow’s trash? The scraps of craft items you haven’t been able to use? The pain that remains from a deep hurt? Broken relationships? Death? Shattered marriages or damaged friendships? These are all “leftovers” of our lives. Some are good, some are painful, but we still need to determine what to do with them.

Scripture gives a few ideas…sometimes the leftovers were destroyed, sacrificed or trampled.

In Exodus, the locusts devoured everything leftover after the hailstorm when Pharaoh wouldn’t release the Israelites from bondage. (Exodus 10:15)

At Aaron and his sons’ ordination anything from the ram or from the bread that was leftover until morning was to be burned up (Exodus 8:32), while in Leviticus 7:16, leftover food from offerings could be eaten.

In the book of Ruth, we see Ruth gleaning in Boaz’s fields (Ruth 2:2). She would glean the barley that was left over after the harvesters. Boaz even told the harvesters to leave extra behind for her.

And there were the leftovers from the feeding of the 5,000. John 6:12 tells us that Jesus didn’t want anything to be wasted. I wonder what they did with those leftovers?

There have been times in my life when everything seemed to be just fine, but there were pieces lying around that didn’t seem to fit. Whether it was a hobby or a friend or sin.

God has given me the directions for my life, but sometimes I ignore His guidance and miss adding something to my life. Sometimes I get ahead of Him and then wait for the piece to be added. And then at other times I have no idea what I missed or where something should be added and it is a complete mystery.

Whatever the case, my focus must stay on God. He’s the Author of the plan. He is the Designer of the life. He is the Creator of me.

So what are we to do with the leftovers of our lives? Remember, Jesus doesn’t want anything to be wasted. It may be different for each of us. But what I do know is that when we give them to God, He can do amazing and remarkable things with the leftovers.

He can restore hope, mend broken hearts, and heal wounded relationships. In the end, He can take all those leftover pieces and make them into something beautiful.

Now, what will you do with your leftover pieces?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna