Hidden Beauty

Our addictions can make us feel like filthy rocks, useless to anyone including ourselves. In fact, we may feel so far gone that no one around us can see anything of value. That is where the Lord can begin to reveal what we can no longer see in ourselves.

Hidden Beauty

Most rocks we pick up are dull. Years of dirt can do that. I enjoy finding and polishing rocks, and I’ve learned there are many ways to clean and polish a rock. The fastest but least permanent is to put the rock in some water. We can rub off some of the surface dirt and water does make the rock seem shiny, but that is only temporary.

Sometimes I use my rotary tool. This can take a few minutes or several hours, but the shine is still rough and can be worn away. The tumbler or polisher can give a nearly permanent shine, but it can take a month, or even longer to complete.

Do you ever feel like nothing more than a rock in someone else’s road? We get stepped on, ground down, tossed aside, even buried beneath other people’s lives. Or maybe, that filth and muck is our own doing, and now no one will try to help clean us, and no matter how much we try to clean ourselves, the dirt and stains of life still remain.  

Our Lord does this for us. He cleans us through salvation and shines us through sanctification. Salvation occurs within a moment after we confess our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts. That moment cleanses us—Jesus is the one who can wash away even the filthiest of us clean. Sanctification takes years and is not easy, but through it, God shapes us into something far more beautiful than we could ever become on our own.

While writing this blog I was reminded of a stanza from a poem I wrote

Up from the ground

bound in dirt and clay,

He removes the waste

so that we may sing His praise.

While rejected and discarded,

He gathers His rocks—the leftovers and castaways.

No matter how rough and unworthy you may feel, The Lord sees the hidden beauty He is bringing to light.