Peace, Perseverance, The Ultimate Treasure, Words of Endurance
A Treasure of Hope
Months have passed since Lucy put her big, bulky box in her hall closet. It is still there. Whenever Lucy has a new prayer request for her daughter, she writes it down on a piece of paper, opens the closet, and places the request into the box. This symbolic gesture reminds Lucy that as she continues to pray for her daughter, God is the one who carries the burden. It is Lucy’s visual expression of faith that the same powerful God who met her on that terrible, dark day when she could do no more is still working in her daughter’s life.
Lucy has come to believe that “in every journey, regardless of whether it’s physical, emotional or spiritual, there’s a period of silence when God is teaching us something. I think that’s why God gives us treasures in the darkness. They point us back to Him, back to the One who is our hope for the future.
“God has brought me such a long way from the day I placed that box in the closet,” Lucy explains.“Our whole relationship with God is based on faith, but until that faith moves from our head into our heart, we will wrestle in the darkness. And even when faith becomes firmly planted in our heart, we will still experience ups and downs. That is part of the reason I continue to put my requests in the box. That simple action helps me have hope for the future in the midst of the darkness.”
With a sparkle in her eye and conviction in her voice, Lucy adds, “My personal experience in the darkness made faith come alive in my heart. Sure I had to walk through the darkness, but there I found something greater than I ever imagined. I found God!”And that, she will say to anyone who will listen, truly is the ultimate treasure.
