The Precious and the Vile

The words I was trying to figure out came alive when I read Charles Stanley’s note.  First of all, Stanley quoted from the New American Standard Bible rather than one of the other translations I had been contemplating.  The other translations made reference to the words God wanted Jeremiah to speak to a rebellious nation and each of those translations encouraged speaking good words rather than bad ones, worthy words rather than worthless ones, but none of it fit the context for me.  In the NASB, it reads, “If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.”  And Stanley commented, “That is, if you trust in God and learn from Him through your trial, He will reveal Himself to you and work through you in wonderful ways!!!  (Exclamation points mine.)    The New King James echoed the same message, “If you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth.”  Suddenly I understood!   There is beauty among the ashes.  There are pearls among the irritating offenses.  There is something to be thankful for when my world crumbles into darkness.  There is something precious shadowed by the vileness of my difficult, even heart-rending circumstances.

I have listened to the stories of women whose lives were shredded by sexual abuse.  I walk amidst the grief of moms suffering from the death of their child, a death that came too soon, a death that may have come through the horrendous, or through the agony of long term illness.  I know too many families that have been broken by divorce or by the waywardness of their young people.  Health needs quiet those who once were actively engaged in productive lives.  But, as I have listened to many of their stories, I have heard too the words that reflect the precious – the pearls of worth and beauty gathered in the crumbles of darkness.  And those words are spoken not only to me, but they are spoken too to others, because, like Jeremiah, God is using them to be His spokesperson – they are giving to others from the beauty amidst the ashes, the beauty that speaks of God’s love, His passion, His care, His enabling, His direction. 

If we take the precious from the vile, we can know the reality of mourning turned to dancing, the listening presence of our God, the lifting of our spirits out of the pit of despair, the steadying of our feet on solid ground, the new song God has for us to sing.  And in time, many will see what He has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord.

And I do realize it’s not always easy to find the precious when we are shadowed by the vileness of our difficult situation.  Finding the precious begins by reaching for God, even when He seems distant or silent or uncaring.  The precious comes closer as we stay with God, openly, honestly, dependently, trusting when we don’t understand.  And the precious magnifies in the over and over and over of our dependence and trust, intentionally looking for what could God possibly have for me?  What could God possibly want to do in me andthrough me?  Many times I have asked God to free me from the cocoon that blinds me from finding the precious, and my God has always, always been faithful.

                                                                       – Bev

(Related Bible reading: Jeremiah 15:18, 19; Psalm 30:11,12; Psalm 40:1-3)