Refining The Gold Within repost

A repost of an early blog I wrote on 11/25/2010 when I first felt the stirrings of God's calling. I continue to be in awe of how far I have journeyed since meeting God for the first time. My gold becomes a little tarnished but He is the Master Jeweler and is always ready to make a necessary repair to my brokenness.

1 Corinthians 1:26 "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth."  NIV

When I heard the Holy Ghost speak to my heart for the first time, I was sure I was mistaken.  Who was I to be worthy of the voice of God in my heart?  I had spent half my life running away from God.  Why would he even want to talk to me?  I find myself still in awe of the fact that He knows my name.  How often do we let the call go unheeded?  How often do we think that what we have to offer doesn't matter?  We aren't a college graduate.  We don't have alot of money to give to others.  We certainly aren't ever in the news or on the society page.  Why, most sundays, we don't even get noticed.  We slip in and out of the pews and who even cares that we are there?  Who is watching anyway?

A friend told me today that when she read my story, she felt like there was hope for her as well.  One of our daughter's called tonight and said that she had seen me reading my scriptures every morning this summer at our family camp out and it had so impressed her that she has started doing morning devotions as well.  I don't say these things to brag.  It is only when I was in complete humility to the Lord that He let me start writing this blog.  I wanted praise for myself for too many years.  Every attempt to write was an abysmal failure.  I say these things because it is proof that you don't have to be a "somebody" to make a difference.  I was not a good daughter, a good wife, a good mother, or a good friend.  I made so many mistakes.  I hurt alot of people.  And when I was totally broken, I was ready for God to take charge.  I was ready for Him to take the gem that is my soul and polish it, brighten it, and use it to bring a smile to someone's face.  Or hysterical laughter.  Whichever comes first.

Think of the women in the bible.  Rahab was a prostitute.  By all we understand of that time, she was living a life seperate from the rest of her society.  Yet because she heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in her heart and believed in Israel's God, she was instrumental in the conquering of Jericho by Joshua.  I would imagine that few women in her world would have ever been seen walking the same side of the street as her, much less would they have imagined that God would use her to change lives.  And think of the Woman of Samaria.  She wasn't even given a name by the writers of the gospels.  She was considered a total outcast from society.  Yet Christ himself sat with her and asked her for water.  Either woman, by our modern standards, would have been considered unworthy of our time.  Yet their lives and their stories are written about in the Word of God.   Each one is a bright and shining example of the gold buried beneath the surface.

Every woman is worthy of refining.   Every woman's heart has a God shaped hole in it.   A hole that can be filled with a brilliance that shines from  your life.  Some women have found it, some have not.  Some are like me.  Still in the spackling stages.  A jewel by itself is pretty.  But surrounded by other jewels and set in gold, it makes a crown that is wonderous to behold.  Let the master jeweler polish and shine you. Let Him add you to His crown.

Zechariah 9:16  ".....They will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown"   NIV