The Loveliest

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15

We returned from our honeymoon to the little four-room apartment as the sun set, casting its warm light over the cracked vinyl couch, green shag carpet, and homemade curtains. Our first home together was the loveliest sight I had ever seen.

Wedding gifts were piled high in the living room, welcoming us like happy hosts. As a new bride, I was dazzled by the generosity of friends and family, overwhelmed by how much they had given to help us start our new life together. The beautifully-wrapped boxes beckoned and we couldn’t wait to open them. On our scuffed second-hand table, someone had carefully arranged a display of our wedding china, crystal, and silver. We were surrounded by good things.

Three years later, I would carefully sift through all those shining gifts again, this time packing them away in boxes marked “fragile,” wondering if I would ever see them again. We could not take them to Africa. 

I love beautiful things. I believe we have them to serve others. I find great satisfaction in using them to make others feel welcome and loved. 

But as I packed for our move to a tribe deep in the bush of Kenya, I faced a great personal challenge. Could I lay aside my lovely things and find beauty in Christ alone? Could I offer Him up like a comforting cup of tea in a fine bone china teacup? Could I see the loveliness of Christ against a backdrop of mud, exhausting equatorial heat, and the spiritual stubbornness of folk Islam? 

I was not sure. But I was determined to try.

I made peace with God about my pretty things as I tucked them away. I imagined myself a wee little gray-haired lady one day returning and unwrapping them to use in my retirement days, telling stories of God’s exploits to young people gathered around my glittering table. 

As I gingerly packed crystal glasses in tissue paper and laid them in a cardboard box, I unpacked my heart and made more room for Christ.

As I handed my car keys to a single mother who needed a dependable way to transport her four children, I felt Christ’s hand reassuring me that I could depend on Him.

As we closed the door to our apartment one last time, a newer, bigger space for Christ opened in me.

In the drab, sun-baked backdrop of our African village, I dreamed of my beautiful wedding gifts, hidden in boxes in a family member’s attic. 

But then Fatima came to visit, and as we drank hot chai in big plastic mugs, the light of Jesus in her eyes sparkled brighter than any silver. 

As throngs of children gathered near to sing Bible verses to the beat of my giant drum, their voices rang brighter than the purest crystal. 

I was again surrounded by good things, and Jesus was the Lord of them all.

Jesus is truly the Lord of all good things.

I don’t live in Africa anymore. I came back to my pretty things sooner than I expected. I’ve unpacked and repacked, moved around the world again and again, sometimes carrying my china teapot and sometimes not.

But something happened to my heart along the way. I fell more in love with Jesus, and everything I once deemed lovely seems dim in the light of His lordship.

Jesus is the loveliest of all.

Lay aside your lovely things for Jesus, the Loveliest of all. #Christ Click To Tweet 

Lord, of all the lovely things, may you be the loveliest to me! I set You apart today and every day as Lord of my heart. Amen.

@audreycfrank

 

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash