As I sat at my computer editing a manuscript, I put my hand to my face and felt a sharp scratch from my engagement ring as it brushed my cheek. Fearing the worst, I slowly moved my hand and looked down at my ring finger, confirming my fear when I saw a gaping hole and an empty setting where my diamond once sat. My heart sank. I hadn’t noticed it was missing.
Taking my very forlorn looking ring to show James, I began to rack my brain. The truth is, I honestly had no idea where it had fallen out. I had been to many different places that day including the supermarket so it literally could have been anywhere.
Beginning the search, I pondered just how precious this diamond was. Yes, the ring is a valuable piece of jewellery but it’s value to me is so much more than monetary. It is priceless. James had handpicked my ring unbeknown to me when he decided to propose. He chose it. Especially for me. In secret. As a surprise. The sentiment behind that gesture cannot be measured or weighed. The sentimental value is irreplaceable, and it broke my heart to realise I had lost it.
What is interesting in all this is that the piece of manuscript I had been editing was about how the enemy tries to steal from us and distract us from doing what we are called to do. And how easy it is to get discouraged.
As I started to look for the lost diamond, I felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to go into the last place I had been. I had been in our bedroom making the bed. As I was on my hands and knees looking under the bed, I muttered audibly to the devil “you will not steal this from me too!” In that moment I was compelled to look under the other side of the bed and guess what? There on the floor, sparkling against the carpet was my lost diamond. I felt like the woman in the bible who found her lost coin!
Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:8-10
The feeling I had when I saw it was indescribable. I was so relieved!
But here’s the thing. This story is not really about a material possession. Well, yes. It is. But it’s also about how much more precious we are to God than even diamonds. My engagement ring is a precious symbol of James’ love for me. It is a symbol of restoration for both of us. James went out of his way to show his love and commitment to me when he proposed on bended knee and placed the ring on my finger. It was a time of much rejoicing. God says there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. When just one person turns their heart towards God, the angels in heaven have a party!
My ring is not valuable to me because of how much it cost. It is valuable to me because I know the sacrifice of time, effort and yes finances, to purchase it for me. You know where I’m going with this… to another time, another place, another sacrifice. By the One who sacrificed everything because He thought you were more precious than even the most precious of jewels.
The enemy tried to get into my head when I lost my diamond, playing all kinds of negative mind games, but the Holy Spirit knew better. He led me to exactly where my diamond was. In the big things and the small things, God is always sovereign. And that, is worth rejoicing over!
When I got my repaired ring back from the jeweller, it was so shiny and sparkly that my wedding ring looked a bit sad and dull beside it! I left my wedding ring with the jeweller to polish and recoat so that it would match the lustre of my restored engagement ring.
This month we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary, and I have my precious rings back on my finger where they belong. They are as shiny and perfect as they were when they were new. A beautiful anniversary gift! One of my catch phrases back then was “new beginnings”. We had both come from a place of brokenness after betrayal and divorce in our previous marriages and our relationship really was a new beginning for both of us, in so many ways. Ten years later, I can’t help but feel like my rings are a symbol of more new beginnings as we enter a new decade as husband and wife. A lot has changed for us in recent years and like my rings, I had become a little worse for wear. I had let the circumstances of life overwhelm me and I had become tarnished and worn out. Now it almost feels like God has taken the worn out and tarnished and transformed it into fresh and new. In the natural and the spiritual, I have been through the refining fire. Just as my rings had to go through a purifying process of repair and restoration, God has taken me through a process of relying less on myself and the opinions of others and He has restored my hope, my faith, and my commitment to trust in Him no matter what, because nothing is too big or too small for Him. He cares about it all. Even the seemingly small and inconsequential things.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Challenge:
God is in the business of restoring things. What do you need to give to Him to restore today? A relationship? A career? A lost dream? Name your own….
Are you willing to go through the process of refining in order for this to happen? If not, what’s holding you back?