A Better and Lasting Possession

But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls. 

Hebrews 10:32-39, NET

I thought it was a speck of chocolate, lodged in the delicate filigree of my wedding anniversary ring. After all, my daughter and I made a full-body contact affair of the salted brownie-chocolate-chunk-cookie-making last night. It would make sense to find chocolate anywhere in a ten-foot radius of the kitchen.

But as I looked more closely, giving it a little scrub, I could see the sun shining through like a pinhole of light.

I’ve lost a diamond.

The ring is a precious treasure, given to me by my husband on the anniversary we saved up for over a year. The quarter-of-a-century celebration of love and endurance across oceans and deserts, from remote African villages to winding cobbled streets in ancient Islamic medinas. The much-anticipated anniversary, where we ended up instead in a Ronald McDonald House, stunned and sleepless as our youngest son fought for his life after a devastating fire.

That circle of tiny diamonds reminds me every day of the things that survive fire, the lasting things, the better and lasting possession no tragedy can destroy.

One is missing now.

I decided I’d mourn it later, because today I had work to do. I took my bag from its hook and wound my way down the dirt path to the mission hospital, holding tension in my heart between losing a precious thing and knowing that it is just a thing.

My two friends were already seated at the small coffee shop when I arrived. They are North Africans, and they’ve answered God’s call to take the Gospel to a neighboring culture. They live among people known to persecute and kill followers of Jesus. Yet they obeyed, and they are making disciples. Their eyes sparkled as they told me stories of faith and hope. We talked long of joy and strength over hot cups of coffee and discussed the resource challenges faced by North African workers in the harvest field. As my friend lifted her cup, her ring glimmered in the sunlight. With an inward start, I noticed the four prongs on her simple silver band rising empty and diamondless. She wears the prized gift from her husband proudly anyhow.

The diamond I’d lost seemed silly now. Sitting here, in the sweetness of fellowship with the humble who have chosen a possession held in heaven for them, my perspective suddenly sharpened.

We know something for certain: we have a better and lasting possession. So we do not throw away our confidence, because it has great reward. We need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. For in just a little longer He who is coming will arrive and not delay.

I won’t be thinking of diamonds then.

Lord, thank you for the beauty you’ve given me in this world. I will hold it lightly, because one day I will thank you for eternity for all You’ve held in heaven for me. Amen.

Photo by Sabrianna on Unsplash