Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Nothing Is Wasted
By Sergey Gruzdev
August 5th, 2026
My wife and I are teachers here in Russia, and we tried to raise our children in the best traditions of intelligent families. Our children saw no evil, and we taught them only good. We well remember the first time our daughter was allowed to go for a walk on her own, and how she came back crying. She cried for 15 minutes before we managed to calm her down because one of her girlfriends stuck her tongue out at her!
During this time, we learned about 3ABN Russia’s Bible study courses and my wife became interested. She studied them and then told me she wanted to be baptized. I was a bit worried, but she invited me to the baptism ceremony so that I could see everything with my own eyes.
I had been watching my wife’s transformation for a long time but now I went to her church and met the pastor. He answered all my questions intelligently, according to biblical teachings, so I agreed to her baptism. The minister prayed for me and gave a sheet of the church’s beliefs and doctrines, and again I saw that it was all written in accordance with the Bible. Who am I to disagree with God? I thought, so I asked to be baptized, too. And that is how, in one day, my wife and I became spiritually close. In fact, we decided to both be baptized the same day!
At the time, I was a hiking and mountain tourism instructor and loved my job very much. But after my baptism, when I began to observe all the commandments of God, my friends said, “You need to forget about tourism.”
That worried me for a while, because at the time I did not yet know that God finds use for each of our gifts, abilities, and talents. Now, I’m convinced that our abilities develop and become even more vivid when we use them for the Lord!
As a result of my thoughts and prayers, we decided to form a Pathfinder Club for young people. The children from church and I made many hiking trips—including some into the mountains. They learned how to survive in wilderness conditions, and they fell in love with God’s great outdoors. A hike began to mean more than physical exercise—it meant fresh air, friendship development, and teamwork. There were bonfires, fun, and laughter. And we studied nature, geography, grass, water, stones, and stars.
Before and during our hikes we pray that the Lord will bless us. We are constantly in His presence and under His protection and our minds are clear of all unnecessary things. There are spiritual moments when we study the Word of God, share our experiences with God, and pray for each other and for the solution of our problems. When a situation comes up and we don’t know what to do, we ask God for help.
Once such case came up when our route was not shown on the map. We’d covered many kilometers and were very tired but still a long way from our campground. And we prayed and asked for a shorter way, and soon we saw a faint path overgrown with grass in the forest and decided to follow it. God shortened our trek by four kilometers that day, and in addition it ran on flat terrain!
When we arrived, a noisy group of about 50 drunken young people were nearby, and their speech was abundantly seasoned with obscene expressions, which, of course, we didn’t want to hear. Since it was already 9:00 p.m., it was too late to head to another campground, so we turned to the Lord, that He would change this unpleasant situation. Right then, our neighbors decided to leave for another campground eight kilometers away! There was no doubt that the Lord had answered our prayer.
There are habits we should develop, and others that lead to degradation. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” We have to choose what is useful. I do not regret that I entered into a covenant with God, and He has found a use for all my gifts and given me more than I ever had before!
Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Nothing Is Wasted
By Sergey Gruzdev
August 5th, 2026
My wife and I are teachers here in Russia, and we tried to raise our children in the best traditions of intelligent families. Our children saw no evil, and we taught them only good. We well remember the first time our daughter was allowed to go for a walk on her own, and how she came back crying. She cried for 15 minutes before we managed to calm her down because one of her girlfriends stuck her tongue out at her!
During this time, we learned about 3ABN Russia’s Bible study courses and my wife became interested. She studied them and then told me she wanted to be baptized. I was a bit worried, but she invited me to the baptism ceremony so that I could see everything with my own eyes.
I had been watching my wife’s transformation for a long time but now I went to her church and met the pastor. He answered all my questions intelligently, according to biblical teachings, so I agreed to her baptism. The minister prayed for me and gave a sheet of the church’s beliefs and doctrines, and again I saw that it was all written in accordance with the Bible. Who am I to disagree with God? I thought, so I asked to be baptized, too. And that is how, in one day, my wife and I became spiritually close. In fact, we decided to both be baptized the same day!
At the time, I was a hiking and mountain tourism instructor and loved my job very much. But after my baptism, when I began to observe all the commandments of God, my friends said, “You need to forget about tourism.”
That worried me for a while, because at the time I did not yet know that God finds use for each of our gifts, abilities, and talents. Now, I’m convinced that our abilities develop and become even more vivid when we use them for the Lord!
As a result of my thoughts and prayers, we decided to form a Pathfinder Club for young people. The children from church and I made many hiking trips—including some into the mountains. They learned how to survive in wilderness conditions, and they fell in love with God’s great outdoors. A hike began to mean more than physical exercise—it meant fresh air, friendship development, and teamwork. There were bonfires, fun, and laughter. And we studied nature, geography, grass, water, stones, and stars.
Before and during our hikes we pray that the Lord will bless us. We are constantly in His presence and under His protection and our minds are clear of all unnecessary things. There are spiritual moments when we study the Word of God, share our experiences with God, and pray for each other and for the solution of our problems. When a situation comes up and we don’t know what to do, we ask God for help.
Once such case came up when our route was not shown on the map. We’d covered many kilometers and were very tired but still a long way from our campground. And we prayed and asked for a shorter way, and soon we saw a faint path overgrown with grass in the forest and decided to follow it. God shortened our trek by four kilometers that day, and in addition it ran on flat terrain!
When we arrived, a noisy group of about 50 drunken young people were nearby, and their speech was abundantly seasoned with obscene expressions, which, of course, we didn’t want to hear. Since it was already 9:00 p.m., it was too late to head to another campground, so we turned to the Lord, that He would change this unpleasant situation. Right then, our neighbors decided to leave for another campground eight kilometers away! There was no doubt that the Lord had answered our prayer.
There are habits we should develop, and others that lead to degradation. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” We have to choose what is useful. I do not regret that I entered into a covenant with God, and He has found a use for all my gifts and given me more than I ever had before!
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