“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life . . .” Philippians 2: 14-16
My neighbor, Marie, invited me over to see her rock collection. She showed me the smooth, shiny rocks which had been thrown around in her rock polishing machine. They were rough when they first went into the machine—but the finished product was smooth rocks with interesting designs and colors. Only an experienced eye can see the potential of those rocks before they are polished.
Then she showed me some other, larger rocks which were dirty and very rough on the outside. But when they were split by a hammer, many of them contained the most beautiful crystal formations. They had to be cleaned and treated to loosen the dirt which had gathered in the crevices. The removal of this silt and dirt allowed the beauty of the crystals to shine forth.
To find rocks which can be polished or contain crystals and precious gems one has to have experience and patience to spend hours and days looking for them, identifying them and then cleaning and polishing them.
In a way, we can compare a rock hound to our Creator, Jesus Christ. He knows exactly what is inside of us. He knows and sees the potential in us. In Max Lacado’s book, “Just Like Jesus”, he makes the statement,
“Jesus loves you just the way you are, but loves you to much to leave you that way.”
Jesus is patient with us and will keep “polishing” us until we shine like stars.
Sometimes we put walls about ourselves. Kind of like turtles - we withdraw into our shells whenever we think we might be in a danger. We have been hurt or just plain shy; maybe we have a secret we don’t anyone to know. We are afraid to let some people see past the wall.
Jesus, patiently, with His unfailing love, uses people (who rub us the wrong way), painful circumstances, sickness, sorrow and disappointments to help us yield to His polishing--to take down the wall. When we trust Him and look to Him for strength, wisdom and direction—He brings out the beauty in each one of us.
“They looked to Him and were radiant . . .”
Psalm 34:5 (Amp)
Lord Jesus, I am so glad you know everything about me and love me anyway. Thank you that you know best how to bring out our inner beauty. Help us to yield to your “polishing” and trust you in everything. Amen.
Going Deeper:
Can you think of a person who has been refined into a “shining star” through difficult circumstances?
Can you think of a situation God used to refine you?
How did you respond or react at first?
Did you recognize God’s hand in what was happening to you?
Have you learned to thank God in and for the difficult times in life?
Who is God?
