I have the privilege of living near the D.C. area. Sometimes it still blows me away that I, within the space of 2 hours, can be on the mall of the Nation's capital. Despite my nomadic upbringing, I've always considered Oklahoma to be home and never dreamed I'd be sitting on this side of the continent. I recently took a day trip with my son (Luke) and his friend. I am the designated tour guide (a role that I love) and we toured the American Art Museum as well as the Museum of Natural History.
So Luke and friend headed off to the IMAX theatre. I headed to the "gems and minerals" exhibit. Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? Oh, I didn't bypass the "jewel" section and the "Hope Diamond". :) But I am utterly fascinated by gems in their original forms. Before I headed there, I took a second look at a passage of scripture that makes my imagination bug out.
"The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst."
Maybe that does absolutely nothing for you, but I looked for those "precious stones" in the museum. I saw the raw material of someday polished gems. My experience that day was nothing less than worship. Not of the stones themselves, but of a God who sees into the depths of the earth. I wondered at the day that He created it. We look at the earth in greens and browns. But God paints from the pallet of deepest blues, richest reds, brightest yellows and greens, clearest pinks and purples, every hue imaginable in every depth from transparent to darkest ebony. And He does it in the depths of the earth... in secret.
I went from window to window, "rock" to "rock", overwhelmed with the diversity and imagination of a God who would form something so awe-inspiring without the "ahhhhh" of an audience. Instead, we drill and dig. We mine for them... hidden treasures of beauty and value.
I've no words to describe the rush in my spirit. I didn't have words that day. But something did happen. I had an overwhelming response in my heart, a compulsion that started deep within and wanted to flow right out of my fingers. I had an overwhelming desire to applaud. It was unbearable.
I looked around. I was surrounded by unsuspecting people, including "guards". Stoics walking around making certain that no one misbehaved. And there I was... wanting to call for applause. Wanting to scream "HE DESERVES YOUR PRAISE... ADORE YOUR CREATOR... ARE YOU NOT AMAZED AT HIS WONDERS?"
I regret that I let my sensibilities stifle my compulsory worship. Instead of all out applause, I put my hands in front of me and silently clapped for the Creator of the Universe and whispered, "Praise You, Most High! Praise You, my Creator! Aren't You just the most beautiful One! I adore You. Thank You." And so it went. My hands clapping together so that no one could hear but the ear of the Most High God. If someone caught a glimpse of me, they might of thought I had an irritating little habit or tic. They might of thought "that girl needs a friend... look at her talking to herself." But that was all the restraint I could muster. And now I sort of wish I had been absolutely looney for Him. Sometimes it's important to be foolish.
I've thought about that moment a lot this week. And God has built upon the worship to teach me. Sometimes it's the hidden places that He does His most astonishing works of beauty. It's in the seemingly insignificant seasons and places that His creativity flourishes. I wonder... in those disconnected times of our lives when we feel forgotten and unvalued, when we feel our loneliest, when dreams are dying and time is barely moving... is God dealing with the infrastructure? Is He reaching into the depths of who we are and fashioning something to be dug up later. Something of beauty. Something beyond beautiful. Something that, when it's revealed in us for others to finally see, they will stare wide-eyed and say "Oh, look at His wonders!" His wonders in us. His glory in us. In those times is He fashioning worth and deepest hues of character, transforming a rock into a jewel? A jewel that will eventually be unearthed to the glory of His name in us.
I marveled at His word. Just a few verses after the ones quoted above (Revelation 21:18-20), verses 23 and 24 say this: "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it." The Son shines on us and we bring His glory into the kingdom.
You should have seen the way those "rocks" sparkled. Awesome. (Applause, applause, applause!)
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