Isaiah 61: 10- I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul
rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and
arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like
a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Last month at debrief our squad was practicing listening to
hear from God and seeking an answer to the question: what does God want to give
you? The image I received was diamond shaped jewels set in gold and fastened
together like chain mail flowing down from a table. At first I had no idea what
that meant so I did nothing. But a few nights later one of our leaders
mentioned being the “precious jewel of God” and all of the sudden I knew what
God was telling me.
I’ve always struggled with self-image and viewing myself as
God views me. Having grown up in the church I know all the “right” answers. My
parents have always encouraged me and spoken life into me but to be honest I’ve
never really believed that stuff. If
I were to be honest and choose one word to describe myself it would be:
average.
SO when God says, “You are a jewel” I get super
uncomfortable. I don’t really know what that means, so I began researching
jewels. First I began with the definition:
Jewel- a precious
stone, typically a single crystal or a piece of a hard lustrous or translucent
mineral, cut into shape with flat facets or smoothed and polished for use as an
ornament.
A jewel is precious and generally the end product is cut,
shaped, molded, smoothed, and polished from its original form to make something
that is used to adorn or embellish. It isn’t plain. It isn’t average. It is
beautiful and valuable, it is treasured.
To be honest, that is hard for me to swallow. In my mind
that is not how I view myself. I decided to dig a little deeper because
I felt like God was trying to tell me something more. Next I looked into how
jewels are formed which involves a quick science review.
Jewels are formed from molten rock in cavities between the
mantle (the core of the earth that is made up of molten rock) and earth’s
crust, which is made up of layers of rock. In these cavities are different
minerals that are carried there by water from the earth’s surface & crust.
To make a jewel you need ingredients, which are the minerals in the cavities,
space (the cavities), temperature, pressure, and time. The molten rock seeps
into the cavities jewels are formed as the molten rock cools and chemically
reacts with the minerals in the cavity. If the cavity is closed the growth
stops.
Fast forward to when the jewels are found. Who assigns their
worth? The Jeweler, who takes the raw jewel and shapes it, cuts away
imperfections, creates new angles, and polishes the jewel so that it sparkles
and shines as bright as possible. My squad leader, Courtney, reminded me that a
jewel doesn’t lose its worth if it is stuck in the mud for 50 years, or if it
is thrown away…no matter where a jewel is found it still has value.
I felt God saying, “I created you with raw ingredients and
gave you space to grow. Sometimes, when the heat and pressure came, life was
difficult. But in time I worked those challenging circumstances with the raw
ingredients of who I made you to be and formed a jewel. Now I am taking on a
new role. I am your jeweler as well as creator. I am cutting away
imperfections, creating new angles in you. It will be a life-long process, it
may be uncomfortable at times, but it will be worth it in the end.”
Which brings me back to scripture. Jewels and precious gems
are used many times, they are used to adorn brides, kings, & queens. They
were used to decorate the Tabernacle and various priestly garments, like the
Ephod. In Job and Proverbs wisdom and knowledge are compared to the
preciousness of jewels. In Zechariah, the Lord’s flock will sparkle like
jewels. And in Revelation jewels are used to describe the New Jerusalem, the
bride, and its brilliance.
More and more I am coming to see myself as God’s Jewel.
Precious, valuable, much more than ordinary. The beginning of Nepal was a
breakthrough for me. Now, more than ever, I am stepping out into my Christ
identity.
