God, The Master Jeweler
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
In Genesis 2:7 KJV, we read, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” When reading those verses, I am reminded of God’s perfect work in our lives. He turned dust of the ground into something wonderful and amazing. God breathed into man the breath of life. It was God who formed man and gave him life. Man didn’t evolve from some primordial swamp. So here we are today.
When I was a little girl, my father’s hobby was to polish and smooth stones that we would pick up at along the road or when traveling through the woods. I often wondered how he knew which stones to choose….there were so many and none of them looked worth taking home. They were all ugly and dull. They were jagged and dirty I could see no use for any of them.
He bought a little machine that he loaded with sand and water. The machine had a round wheel and screws attached the wheel to a belt which caused it roar to life as it turned round and round….When it was fully loaded with the sand, water and those ugly rocks, it would make a terrible noise.
Sometimes that little tumbling machine had to run day and night for several days before my father felt it was ready to unload. I would anxiously wait for him to open it up and see what had happened to those stones. I asked my father why he had to add all of that sand and water to the machine.
He put me on his lap, would smile at me, and gently say, “My child, you go about your playing for awhile, and when the machine finishes its work, we will open it up and we shall find something wonderful inside….It will be truly amazing!”
When the time finally came to open that machine….he carefully unscrewed the wheel. He took out the stones from the inside. They still looked ugly and rough and worthless. But he washed them carefully, and laid them on a soft towel, wiping each one with great care. It was then that I could see the real beauty of each stone. They were smooth and round and the colors, which at one time were obscured by the dirt, were brilliant and beautiful!
Then my Father would say to me, “My daughter, you see, when I took those rough and ugly stones and applied the proper materials to them, they become real gems. They have gone from worthless to priceless, but you did not realize that there was a beauty and design to each and every stone, but I knew the difference. Now look at the end result and you can see what I was doing.”
I couldn’t help but wonder how my father knew that the water and sand would turn those ugly rocks into something wonderful! How could that be? After all, they were just plain, simple stones in the first place. They had no color or shine. What did he see in them that I didn’t?
I believe that is exactly what God does in our lives also. We aren’t smooth and beautiful gems when he finds us laying in the muck of life….we are rough and ugly and have no visible shine. Why no one would look twice at us! But our Father knows that given the proper treatment, He will transform us into a person of beauty and worth. Why? He is the Master Jeweler!
Sometimes He has to use rough sand and water to do His work….to smooth and polish us. He sometimes has to use that special tumbling machine and let it toss us about for awhile, to take our rough exterior and form it into a beautiful and smooth gem….He can transform our dull luster into a brilliant shine. He can cut and polish us so that we gleam and are transformed into a thing of beauty.
He takes the mud and sand and watery places in our life to work His wonders. Many times we are cut and bruised. Why, Lord, do you have to allow us to be so “roughed up.” Isn’t there another way to turn us into someone of worth? Surely our lives can be changed through a less painful process….
But the Master Jeweler knows that the cutting, and chipping and bruising will turn out well….and only He can achieve the desired results….We cannot do it for ourselves. We would avoid all of that pain in our lives. We don’t want to be reshaped….it is a painful process.
Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, “Father, what are You doing?”
He has answered, “I am polishing your life.”
I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The sand and dirt and water are just too much Why, can’t my life all be bright and shiny?”
The Father seems to tell me, “My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the perfect gem that you have become.”
So you see the end result of our Father’s work is amazing. We come out like perfect gems! We are now fit for the Master’s Crown!
How is the Master Jeweler polishing you today?
—Barbara Hyland, guest writer
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