I have a thing for rings. (As you should already know from my last blog! If you haven’t read it, no worries! You are forgiven. You can still check it out. Feel free to mosey on over there right now.)
To be honest with you, I didn’t think I was going to find my China ring. I had been searching high and low the whole month for the ring that Papa wanted me to have as my souvenir from China. In fact, I had my sights set on an intricate Tibetan ring, which I thought was “the one,” from the second city I found myself in. Initially, I was turned off by the offensive price tag, but after a couple of weeks of honing my bartering skills, I was confident and determined to go back and judo chop the price down as low as possible. Alas, it wasn’t the ring that was meant for me. Fortunately, it wasn’t there for me to purchase, otherwise I wouldn’t have sought after the Holy Spirit band.
It was November 9th. Michelle and I, after getting separated from our group, managed to make our way to the famous Silk Market without getting lost in the Metro system of Beijing. Praise Jesus! The task at hand: FIND THE RING. This was my last opportunity to find it because our saturated schedule didn’t afford us any other time to galavant around the city.
Word of advice when you’re in Beijing: DON’T go to the Silk Market. You could get lost in that rabbit hole FOREVAHH. After 5 and a half hour marathon of bartering it out with the vendors, I realized that I still hadn’t bought my ring yet! With the market closing in an hour and my energy running low, I had reached a point of delirium. I wasn’t in the right state to look for a ring, much less barter for a ring. So I prayed! Yup…I dialed up! It went a little something like:
Me: Hey Papa! I’m sorry I’ve been distracted. I know I should have focused on getting the ring first. Now, I don’t know where to start looking and I’m just so pooped!
Papa: Don’t worry my child. You will find it.
Me: But Papa, I don’t know where to go. Lead me.
Papa: Go back to the woman that sold you pearls. She will have the treasure you seek.
I sprinted to Sarah with equally exhausted Michelle and Bea, expecting to find a cute little pearl ring to go with the earrings I had just purchased from her. After looking at her pearl rings, I was getting a bit frustrated because I wasn’t fond of any of them AND they were out of my price range. At the verge of throwing the towel in, I hear Bea ask her about the meaning of the Chinese characters that make up a sterling silver band.
She replies, “Those characters represents each fruit of the Spirit.” Very non-chalantly she adds, “I have lots of customers that come through here that request that ring.”
At this point my heart is doing somersaults. I know this is my China ring. I mean c’mon, A HOLY SPIRIT RING?!? IN CHINESE?!? Papa couldn’t have given me a more blatant sign, unless the ring had PICK ME pointed at it. There is only one problem: I don’t have enough money to buy it. And she would not let me barter. Heart broken and exhausted, I leave the market. But there’s a stirring in my spirit and I am compelled to go back. After withdrawing some money, I return with more than the intention of buying the ring—I had a conviction to share the gospel with her.
I bartered a bit more (b/c that’s what I do) and got the price down a bit. Sarah could tell that we were getting exhausted and she offered us bottled water. I knew that was my opportunity to tell her about Jesus.
I asked, “Did you know that you possess all the fruits of the Spirit?! Your kindness and joy and love… you embody everything that is written on that ring…just like JESUS.”
There it was. I put it out there. Plain and simple.
Unsure as to how she would respond and not really giving her much time to comment, I added, “In fact, would it be ok if we prayed for you?”
Praise Jesus she willingly agreed and right then and there, in the middle of a bustling market, we bowed our heads and prayed for an abundance in her life, for happiness and prosperity, for guidance and revelation and that she would draw closer to our Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins. Even though she may not have given up her life for Jesus at that very moment, we pray with the conviction and the faith that God will continue to water the seed that we planted that day.
The Holy Spirit ring serves as a daily reminder to me that the Spirit of the living God resides inside of me…AND you. We walk with the same authority and love and healing power that Jesus did. Yes, we possess the fruits of the Spirit. Yes, we have divine gifts. Yes, we have the power to do greater deeds than Jesus. However, we must make ourselves available. We need to give God the opportunity to use us for the glory of the Kingdom. I must admit, there are times when I’m tired and I don’t want to move…I don’t want to walk around and pray for people. But Jesus says, “I was tired as well but still I fought for your salvation. I fought for YOU.” Convicting, I know!
God calls us to strive for others. So I encourage you to MOVE. Allow the Spirit to flow through you in new and wondrous ways!! I would like to share with you more of the things that Spirit revealed to me in China. So the next nine blog entries (I apologize if they are not consecutive) will be stories about the manifestation of each fruit of the Spirit in my life during the month of October. ("The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23) I pray that Papa speaks to you through these stories and reveals things to you that will help you fall deeper in love with Him.
