I like to walk next to the lake here in Georgia. The water’s down a drastically upsetting number of feet this summer, and half the boat docks are on dry land. The red dirt underneath has had time to dry, and the birds have had time to pick open the clam shells. It’s my new favorite place to walk. It’s like God’s been working the whole summer just to pave a path for me to walk by the water.
(It’s kind of a big deal. We don’t get to walk by water much in Nebraska. Thanks, God. You’re much appreciated.)
On one of these walks, I found a hand-sized rock that glittered in the sun. It looked just like gold. Visions of grandeur, riches, and fame began to crowd my head. This rock had been hiding under the water for centuries, probably, but no one had found it because the water was in the way. And now that the water was gone, no one bothered to walk here . . . no one but lucky me! That’s what I was thinking. Until I picked up the sparkly rock and pulled a layer off. And then another and another and another.
Apparently, gold was a lot flakier than I thought.
Or, maybe it wasn’t gold at all.
I’m kind of hoping the second one is true. If it’s not, I just left a fortune lying in thin little glimmering sheets all the way from the edge of the lake to the beginning of the woods.
For every sliver I pulled off the fake gold, I wondered more and more what true gold looks like. Is it pliable? Is it shiny? When you bite it, is it hard? (No, I did not put the fake gold in my mouth.)
During the tour a couple months ago, we got to stop in Holland, Michigan, and catch up with a youth group that had been in Haiti this summer. It was one of my favorite stops. That’s a special group of kids. When they came back from Haiti, they wrote down some prayers and thoughts from the trip. This is some of what they said:
“I have learned this week that sometimes you have to give up your dreams to follow the dreams God has for you.”
“If I’m alone and have nothing to do, no one to hang out with, I’ll talk to God. If I really need help with something, I’ll talk to God.”
“God will be with me, guiding me, protecting me, providing for me until the day I join Him and all my brothers and sisters in Christ in Heaven.”
“I have surrendered my life to Jesus, and now I will dive in any time I feel the water of Jesus stirring within my soul.”
These quotes inspire me. They remind me of what’s real and what really matters. These are nuggets of true gold. Gold that can stand the fire and still be there after the wood, hay, and stubble are burned.
Oh Lord, open our eyes to be captivated by the real gold, to leave all the false stuff far behind, to let go of the worthless and unreal, to chase after what is lasting and true.
