Today: I am a treasure

Deuteronomy 26:16-18 "The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with your soul. You have declared this day that the Lord is you God and that you will walk in His ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands, and laws, and that you will obey him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possessions as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." ~ author unknown

My daughter, sister-in-law and I spent Memorial Day cleaning my mother-in-law's front porch. Ugh - what a dusty job as we sneezed our way through piles of old cardboard boxes containing fabric, craft supplies and yarn.

My first inclination was to cart the filthy cardboard boxes and their contents to my house where I could toss them in the dumpster without offending Mom. But as we began pawing through them, I discovered many real treasures! One box contained pre-cut quilt squares, just waiting to be stitched together. We also found a few already stitched into pretty pillow tops that just needed stuffing. Of course, they needed to be washed to get rid of the slight musty smell, but someone had gone to a lot of trouble to cut and sew them all. I can always use new throw pillows - or perhaps sell the squares at a yard sale.

Another box held pre-printed fabric panels with designs perfect for making baby quilts for gifts. Again, they had a slight musty smell from being packed away for so long, but the box had protected them from dust and unwanted critters. As I examined them, I refolded the panels and laid them aside, trying to figure out where I could store them. As a pastor's wife, there are always new babies being born to church members and I like to give them gifts.

On and on the afternoon went as we found boxes of stuff - from whole skeins of yarn to small balled up remnants, rolls of quilt batting and even several unfinished quilt tops that were pinned together with batting, ready to be stitched. Cammie found one she loved and asked me to please finish and launder it for her bed.

We never did get to the cupboard that held lengths of quilt fabric and the boxes under the game shelf. That's a job for July 4th when we gather there again! But the point is that the boxes we did manage to sort through held things that were treasures to Mom. As her arthritis became worse, more items were moved to the enclosed porch because she needed the room for her motorized wheelchair, hospital bed and clothes downstairs. She asked us to sort through them hoping her treasures would be passed down to people who would also value them.

While we can't and won't keep everything for lack of storage space, many of her treasures will be valued and used up eventually - not just thrown in the dumpster.
God created man in His image, originally intending him to maintain the earth; to please and enjoy His presence as well as the world He created forever. Sin separated man from God. Much like Mom's treasures which were boxed up and moved to the front porch, sin caused man's heart to become dirty and unusable.

But God isn't content to let His treasures disintegrate with age or disuse. He constantly goes through the dirty, dusty, musty piles of refuse, looking for His treasures so He can wash them and restore them to places of use and honor in His kingdom. He turns the musty, cut up fabric of our lives into beautiful quilts and then uses them to wrap others in His warmth.

How often Satan's trash becomes God's treasure! Consider a person, like the woman taken in the act of adultery. Those around her wanted to trash her life - to stone her because of her sin. But Jesus forgave her and restored her sense of value and worth.

Without His restorative power in our lives, where would we have ended up eternally? Because we have been redeemed, we are privileged to share that trash to treasure story with others. The challenge is before us. Let's get to work!

I am a visual learner so the Lord often helps me understand His presence in my life through visuals - pictures of His relationship with me.

Many years ago when I started on my journey toward wholeness, God showed me a picture of how I saw myself. I was dressed in Roman-type armor - you know, the sandals that laced up the calves, a skirt of leather strips which covered the thighs, a leather breastplate, etc.

I had removed the helmet and stood with one foot balanced on the helmet. In my hand I held a long Roman spear with the butt end planted in the ground. My other hand perched on my hip.

I stood there on my cliff poised for battle, my long hair whipped back away from my face as the winds of adversity buffeted me.

I saw myself as a strong, fearless warrior for the Lord. However, I failed to see how alone I was on that hillside as I tried to handle the battles on my own. I didn't know how to trust Him through the battles. I was afraid of being a "bother" to Him so I stood firm on my own two feet, fighting FOR Him.

Twila Paris sang a song many years ago called the "Warrior Is A Child" As God began showing me this picture of Bonnie, the warrior princess, I began hearing the refrain of that song : "deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child" - a broken, wounded, hurting child. God dismantled that visual in one fell swoop. I was reduced to a small frightened child with no armor at all, naked and exposed to the elements.

Thankfully, God never leaves us in a place of brokenness. He always heals and works with us to bring out the beauty and strength He sees in us. For me it meant a long process of healing as He slowly changed my picture of myself from warrior princess to warrior bride.

What does a warrior bride look like? That picture of Christ is still evolving in my heart and life. But as of now to looks something like this: I am riding on the back of a strong white horse, but I am not alone. Christ rides on that same horse, right in front of me and I am comforted as I hold on tightly to Him.

I can feel the strength of His armored breastplate as I rest my cheek against His back. Even though I know we are at the forefront of the battle, I can't see the enemy because He fills my immediate vision. He feels strong, safe, secure.The muscles of His arms ripple with strength. I can hear His war cry ringing in my ears and I'm not afraid though I sense the enemy is quaking.

As His warrior bride, I fight with Him instead of alone, though most of the time, I must admit, my energy is spent clinging to Him so I don't fall off the battle steed! Because of that, I don't carry a spear. Instead, my weapon is prayer - watching the works He is doing and praying for those I see in the battle all around me. At times, He deposits me on the ground so I might minister to the fallen in battle, like Lucy of Narnia with her Aslan-given gift of heavenly cordial that has the power to heal those who drink of it.

How do you see yourself in this battle?

As Christian writers, we are definitely warriors on the forefront of the battle, writing His words of comfort, encouragement and victory! Allow our Warrior King to give you wisdom and the words necessary as you fight this battle with Him.

After all, I've seen the end of the book - and WE WIN! Hallelujah!