Gold in the Dust

       

            Ever go through a time when you were accused of something you didn’t even realize you did? (I see all those hands raised.) Who hasn’t? It’s no fun.

            Recently, I misread a seating sign and sat in someone else’s spot. It caused them great angst. Next thing I know, I’m labeled as rude and uncaring. It was a total misfortune of unclear communication. The enemy loved it. One party was offended; the other wounded. The good news: God sent a person I trusted to convey my mistake. His first words to me were, “Lezlie, I know your heart.”

            Before he came to tell me of the incident, I knew something was wrong by the attitude of the other party. I had prayed, “Lord, what do you want me to do about it?” I felt God had told me not to worry. After I was told what the commotion was about, I continued to pray, “Lord, how do you want me to fix it?” As devastating as it was to me at the time to think someone saw me as hardened, God kept assuring me, “I know your heart.” I had to let go of what someone else thought of me, and act upon what God knew of me. Thus, in the end, God reminded me that I, too, needed to look past what offense others seemed to commit and look at their heart. I was to look for the “good” in others.

            By the end of this incident, God had showered me with His validation. After praying about my part in the incident, fixing what I could, then releasing the other party to God, I received a delight. I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. They were covered in exactly what God wants us all to look for in others: “gold.” I couldn’t believe what I saw so I asked the people around me, “What do you see?” They agreed: my hands were covered in gold specks. Thus is the picture that accompanies this devotion. It wasn’t something that I could wipe or wash off. I still have sparkles. I believe, since we were formed from "dust from the ground", and gold is a precious metal found in the earth, the specks came from within me. God revealed the “gold” in me.

            Job 22:23-24 reaffirms God’s promised, “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, and place your gold in the dust . . . then the Almighty will be your gold . . .” Job 22:23-24