Once there was a store that dealt in jewels. Many fine pieces came into the store and the dealer was well-known in the city for having the best and most expensive pieces. He was a very rich man and he thought highly of his own skills.
Once there was a Rock. He was quite large and was used as the jewelry store’s doorstop. He spent many a day keeping the doors where they belonged – either open or closed. He took great pride in his own ability to do his job well.
Now the store had a large and important clientele and the dealer took great pains to make them comfortable when they visited his store. One day, as the Rock was doing his job and holding the door for the important people to come in, a great wind came. The wind was too strong for the Rock to hold back so the door blew shut. This wouldn’t have been a problem except just then one of the richest ladies in the town was entering. She was a rather large woman and the door swung so forcefully that it hit her square on the backside and she tumbled into the store. Even that might not have been so bad but she also fell into an expensive grandfather clock. They all came crashing down in a heap. The clock was destroyed and the woman irate. “How do you expect to run a business if your equipment is not in working order?” she screamed, flustered and embarrassed. “You will never hear from me or my money again!” With that, she and her ample checkbook stalked out of the door.
As soon as she left, the red-faced dealer surveyed the damage and realized it would be a very costly gust of wind. He tried to think of a way to repair the clock but it was damaged beyond help. “I can do nothing with this mess!” raged the dealer. “See what you can salvage from the clock and throw that useless Rock in the trash and be done with it. I will take a loss on all of it. It is clearly worthless junk.” So the assistant took the Rock and threw him in the dumpster out back. As the Rock was flying through the air, on its way to certain destruction, he realized his pride and dependence upon himself and cried out to God, “Please save me!”
THUD! There he landed in the middle of someone’s lunch and old cigarettes. There was not going to be a miracle. Even worse, here came the pain of sudden brokenness and dirtiness. Everything was bruised and broken. All of his self-worth and usefulness had been shattered by one gust of wind. There was no saving him now. He was in the middle of a worst-case scenario.
The Rock lay in the dumpster feeling lonely and worthless, waiting to be carted off to the dump. No one would notice him or help him. He couldn’t even save himself. He would have to depend on the grace of God.
Down the street came the screeching of brakes and the hiss of a large engine. “Here it comes,” The Rock said to himself, “This is the end of the road for me.” As the garbage truck stopped next to the dumpster, The Rock had one more thought: “From now on this is what I’ll always be – garbage.” The Rock could feel his dumpster going up, turning over and then he felt himself rolling, rolling, rolling. THUD. More pain came as the dazed Rock just lay there. He could hear the truck start moving but there was something strange. He wasn’t moving. The Rock dared to look around and there he was, lying on the ground next to the empty dumpster. He wasn’t going to a garbage dump. He was just another Rock on the ground.
As time passed he lay out in the open, exposed to the elements and lashed by wind and rain. Once again his soul cried out to God to save him,
“I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.*
The old truck came down the street huffing and puffing in the cold. It threatened to die at any moment, yet it continued on. On its side, in big, bold letters was the word, JUNK. The Rock lay there, cold and broken, downtrodden and tired, shattered in body and spirit. At the end of the street, some children were involved in a game of basketball. The truck stopped. An old man got out; leaving the truck running, probably for fear that if it were turned off it would never start again. He had spotted something from his window. With strong purpose he walked right up to the object of his desire. Before he knew it, the Rock was being picked up and examined. By this time he was filthy and broken, no longer useful or wanted by anyone. Yet here was this man, examining him carefully and thoughtfully. “Why?” he had asked himself, “I’m no longer good to anyone – not even worthy of being called “junk”. I am weak and I am broken.”
Just then the children who had been playing basketball came over, wondering what was so important. “What are you doing, old man?” one asked. The man held up the Rock so everyone could see it. It was caked with mud, broken and faded. It looked every bit the junk that the dealer had proclaimed it. “I have found a great treasure,” the man answered. This was met with howls of laughter. “That’s junk,” said a second boy. They all thought that was even funnier than the old man’s comment. “No, you see, look here,” said the man, ignoring the derisive laughter, “I have an eye for these things. This one is worth a great price. It matters not at all that no one else thinks so.” “Dude, it’s a Rock!” said the first boy. The old man looked him straight in the eye and mimicking the boy said, “Son, look right here.” The boys looked where he was pointing and finally saw it. There in a crack in the rock and peeking out was what looked like the most beautiful jewel ever. It was amethyst in color. “Wow,” gasped the boy.
See how it’s been broken? The great pressure of pain and suffering cracks the surface in order for us to see the glory within. No one would have known about the treasure inside without the brokenness on the outside.
CRACK! The Rock felt the worst pain he had ever felt. “I’m dying here!” he screamed to himself. He lay in the man’s hands, utterly and literally broken. In fact, he was now in two pieces! The man had taken an instrument and broken him in half. While the Rock felt immobilized by pain and the fatigue that comes with great suffering, the boys and the man gasped in wonder. “How can anything so beautiful come from such an ugly old ROCK?” asked the second boy.
“You could sell this for a huge price. You’re going to be rich!” exclaimed the boy. “No, my son, this Rock is going to The King. That is the one place where he will be valued the most. The world is a harsh and hard place for objects of treasure. It will judge anything it finds. Nothing comes out perfect under the unforgiving glare of this world. The children of The King care to be judged only by Him. Because He knows the pain of suffering Himself, He looks upon them as the great treasure that they are. They are His jewels and sparkle perfectly under His gaze.”
So it was settled. The Rock went to the King and lived his days loved, happy and respected. He was finally appreciated. The Junk Man went about his business, looking for treasure, not rich in money but fulfilled in all areas of his life. For working for the King, turning “trash into treasure” is truly the ultimate calling of a King’s servant.
Many people had judged the Rock. They had looked only on the outside and not on the inside where it had really mattered. They had deemed him worthless and had treated him as such. The treasure is there for the finding in all of us. Those who are willing to look, even if it’s from a distance, will be the ones to find the greatest treasures.
Sometimes the worst things happen to us but after a while, they end up being the best for us. It is while we are being broken and tested that those heartaches show the true beauty inside.
Oftentimes we think we are to be one thing in the service to The King when it becomes all too obvious that He wants to take us in a different direction. We may have to go through a time of hardship or pain but eventually, He reveals His perfect will. In the end we realize our true nature and what a treasure we are to Him.
*Psalm 42:9-11
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