Sometimes we dismiss what we possess as too ordinary for God to use. We look at our knowledge or interests and think, "Surely these are too commonplace to matter." Those framed certificates? Just dust collectors. Our hard-won life lessons? Basic life hacks everyone knows.

But here's a truth that changed everything for me: the Holy Spirit doesn't waste anything.

I don't know what subjects you've studied or stories you've lived. I haven't seen the geography you've traversed or met the people you've gathered along your journey. I'm not familiar with the skills you've been honing since childhood or those you've cultivated in recent years.

But I know this with absolute certainty: all of it matters.

Remember Daniel and his friends? They had education, dietary knowledge, and cultural awareness that seemed ordinary to them. Yet the Spirit leveraged these "basic" elements for extraordinary purposes that changed the course of nations.

The Spirit works like a master chef, rummaging through the pantry of your life, pulling out everything you've experienced and learned. Those ingredients—some sweet, some salty, some that seemed insignificant when you acquired them—get mixed into a divine dish that nourishes the world in ways you could never have imagined.

What seems ordinary to you might be exactly what someone else desperately needs. What feels commonplace in your hands becomes remarkable when surrendered to the Spirit's creative work.

Because the Spirit of the one, true God wastes nothing. Not your knowledge. Not your experiences. Not your unique perspective.

Not one bit of who you are.

By Margaret Feinberg,

Author of The God You Need to Know