Treasures Abound!

It was a dark and dreary day in the Grove yesterday. The sky was gray with the threat of a coming shower. I was out walking and there was a light drizzle hitting against my face as I was deep in thought contemplating those things that our Lord is impressing upon my heart, those things he is teaching me. It brings me much joy to be able to share these things with you.

The thing that He has been impressing on me is “Treasures abound!” The other day while walking along the water’s edge, I was impressed by the abundance of shells left behind after the high tide.  I love to go shelling after a big storm and I was thinking that the shells are like treasures left behind. It made me think about the storms which pass through our lives. None of us are immune from these storms; they are just a part of life. It doesn’t matter who you are. The Scriptures teach that it “rains on the just and the unjust alike.” The blessing being, that after the storm….treasures always abound! The treasures which abound are all those things we have in Him, all those things which remain after the storm is past! We may not have seen them while the waters were churning, but once the tide has receded, we are awestruck by the beauty left behind.

The following is a letter which I had written to a friend concerning our reflections on life. We both had suffered so much loss after some severe storms of life. All those things we had held dear were being stripped from us. We were reevaluating our lives and our purpose for living in the midst of these losses. I had lost my husband to cancer while my oldest child was still a teenager, suffered health issues, had finished homeschooling, was jobless and was on the verge of homelessness. My friend was wrapping up homeschooling and had been battling cancer. This letter was in response to yet another operation removing more of her physical body and her pain at all the losses in her life, plus her questions concerning what was left after the storm:

 “Hello My Dear Friend!

I have been waiting for this opportunity to sit and write to you. I'm sorry it has taken so long. You are always in my heart and prayers. My prayers are especially with you in these most recent health struggles. You are being stripped of your physical self over time and this is painful. The enemy knows where to strike where it hurts the most. I remember the days of sitting in my living room with our Bible study friends, talking about our purpose and mission in life. We all had such a strong sense of mission in raising our children and such joy in the births of the new additions. I can sense and understand your pain, as that which was a symbol of all we held dear is being stripped away in such a painful manner. I think the Lord is speaking to your heart about all He wants to work in you as a result. He does work all things together for good and His mercies are new every morning. The enemy has come to kill and destroy, but Jesus has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly!!

On Friday I was walking around the North side of town. I love to walk around the empty tent colony, the Auditorium and Thornley Chapel, watching the leaves change color and watching all the many variety of birds eating the seeds all about. I was struck with thoughts of days gone by. I heard the giggles and laughs of our children in the park in my memory. I looked at the old trees and the leaves and remembered our children jumping in the leaves and climbing around the base of the old tree outside the Tabernacle. It seemed like only yesterday. Just as quickly, my thoughts turned to the present and I thought of my own life. I was thinking about something I heard on TV concerning what others have accomplished in science, politics and other careers. I realized that in the eyes of many I am a failure, because of where I am now and because I haven't achieved any great things in the eyes of the world. I was feeling bad about it all, thinking that for me, the most important thing in my life right now is knowing the Lord and walking with Him. Later that evening I opened my Bible. It opened right up to Jeremiah 9. My eyes hit upon notes in my Bible and the heading, "The Measure of Success".....it read.... “By the world's standards, success is usually measured by three criteria: wisdom, power and wealth. The "successful" communicate insights that influence others (wisdom), gain strategic advantage over others (power), or accumulate and control resources (wealth). Yet God asserts here that these attainments hold no weight with Him and that true success is measured by our knowledge of Him. (v 24)” 

                 “This is what the Lord says:

                   ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom

                    Or the strong man boast of his strength

                    Or the rich man boast of his riches

                 But let him who boasts boast about this:

                    That he understands and knows me,

                  That I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

                     justice and righteousness

                          on the earth,

                     for in these I delight.’”      Jeremiah 9:24

Seek the Lord. He desires that we understand and know Him above all else. This is what matters. I read the paper that you wrote on the darkness (coming through the window), which is how the enemy comes and seeks to destroy. Funny that it also states in that same chapter in Jeremiah, "For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children- no longer to be outside! And the young men- no longer on the streets." vs. 21. We find our Life and Light through the knowledge of Him who is the Life and the Light. Darkness can't dwell where He is. We need to grow in the knowledge of Him. After my husband passed away I wrote, "Walk by Faith....Not Sight" and stated how raising physical children was giving way to raising spiritual children. I think this is true for you as well, in whatever form it takes, art, writing or whatever expression He leads you in. Our success isn't measured according to earthly standards.”

Yes, “true success is measured by our knowledge of Him”. Just as treasures are revealed on the seashore after the storm, so are treasures revealed after the storms in our lives. All the riches we have in Christ are made known. It tells us in 2 Corinthians 4 that we have this treasure in earthen vessels, referring to within us. All of these treasures come through the “knowledge of Him”, through establishing and nurturing a relationship with Jesus. The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was that the Father of glory would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened; that they would know what the hope of His calling is and that they would know the riches of the glory of His inheritance. These are things which can not be taken from us. Paul stated that he counted all those successes of the flesh as loss, for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord.

In Philippians chapter 4, Paul writes "for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  Paul writes this from prison, having been imprisoned for his faith in Jesus. His prison letters are full of hope and joy. We also can have this hope and joy in the midst of our storms, our trials. Let us walk forward in newness of life with an eternal perspective always before us, knowing that “He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” and that …… “Treasures Abound” in Him!