Treasures in the Waves

No one gets excited about trials. I certainly can't say I do. I didn't wake up this morning hoping for one. You probably didn't either. But if you're a treasure hunter, you know the good that can be packed into one. 

Treasure hunters are a unique breed of people. They are folks that spend their days focused not on what everyone else has, but rather the things everyone else doesn't have -- things still to be found, things still to be discovered, unearthed. They know there is more out there and they want to be the ones who see it first. I don't personally know any treasure hunters, but it seems they are determined, passionate people, willing to give up much to gain the treasure they seek. Wow. 

The Bible says the Kingdom of God is like buried treasure. And, ya know, sometimes it takes a storm to kick things up so the treasure can be visible. 

It makes me think of a story my mother told me about a trip to the beach she had with my brother and his family. Her and my niece, Emma, were playing in the ocean and a huge wave came up and basically swallowed my niece whole. It was the biggest wave they had seen that day and it completely swept her off her feet. She tumbled beneath the wave like one in a washing machine but when she came up to the surface she was beaming with delight! My mother looked down at Emma’s hand and there she was holding the most perfect seashell the ocean could ever give them. But, she never would have grabbed onto it if the wave had not come in and taken her for a ride.

Trials are unavoidable in life. Just as the wave was unavoidable for my niece. But do you see? She made the most of it and grabbed the treasure that only a wave could offer her that day. There is a treasure in every wave of life. We only need to be determined to grab hold of it.

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