Where is Your Treasure?

“Where your treasure is, there your heart is also." Matthew 6:21

Pastor Colin Smith likes to tell a parable about a man who was put into a dark pit. This man would have to stay there for only one week, and after that, he would never have to go back there again. The only instruction he was given was that during his waking hours he was to try to make a life and a future. So this man was lowered into the pit. It was dark, smelly and damp. He tries to feel around and his hand hits something sharp like glass and he curses because now he is hurt. He is afraid of moving. He gets depressed, and just keeps thinking of when he gets out and never going back in. How could he make a life and a future in here???? He just counts the days and nights eager to get free.

The last day comes and he is relieved that finally he is pulled out of the pit. He runs out in relief, but then he glances back, and his eyes open wide. The sign next to the pit read: "DIAMOND MINE". He just spent one week in a diamond mine and didn't get anything for his trouble!

In Isaiah 45:3, we discover these promises, “You will give us the treasures of darkness and the hoarded treasures in secret places, that we may know that it is You, O Lord, the God of Israel, who call us by our name." 

It is possible, if we have faith, to find that even in the darkest, hardest times of our lives, we will find the goodness of God. There are treasures to be found in whatever God allows us to undergo. He can bring light in the darkness, and even “provide for those who grieve …– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3) 

We do not realize it most of the time, but God allows us to go into a dark pit of trials and challenges because there are diamonds to be mined there. Lessons that build our character, experiences that allow us to see God's grace and favor. Sometimes we can discover God's purpose, and enter into a place of confidence in God's love. Other times we just learn that relying on God in times when there is nothing else to depend on, gives us indescribable peace. Whenever we are led into a dark place, let us be sure not to leave empty-handed!