Giving Our Jewels To Jesus

All my jewels I give to the shadow of the safety
That is in thee –
My name anew in Christ,
My body, soul, talents, character,
My success, wife, children, friends, work,
My present, my future, my end.
Take them, they are thine, and I am thine,
Now and forever. 

That’s the ending of a prayer from The Valley of Vision. I’ve been conversing with a friend about everything a woman might possess in life: creative talent, intelligence, family, job, spouse, money, success … even beauty. Mainly, we discuss what we’re to be doing with all we’ve been given as gifts from the Lord. 

Gifts and talents, like anything, can be abused or taken for granted. They can also be used toward an eternal purpose that will have lasting impact. Though the choice as to which gifts we possess is not ours, what we will do with our gifts is indeed our choice. 

There’s a lot we could go into concerning the good women of the Bible, their gifts, talents, and positions in life, and what they chose to do with them. But we’ll just scratch the surface. 

Esther was beautiful. And her beauty gained her entrance into the palace, but also a position as the King’s wife – a position which later gave her an opportunity to play a significant role in saving her people. 

Ruth was a loyal and devoted daughter-in-law, a compassionate soul who looked out for the interests of others and is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. 

Sarah was also beautiful, and while she lacked faith for a time (I would, too, if God promised me a child but I just hit 90 years old!), she earned a spot in what we call The Hall of Faith found in Hebrews 11. She will forever go down in history as one of the most faith-filled women. 

Lois, Timothy’s grandmother, was an ordinary woman in an ordinary situation who simply remained faithful in an ordinary way. She was Super Granny! Always present, always serving, always teaching her offspring about the love of Christ. The power of a Grandmother can apparently be fierce. Though the role may feel insignificant at times, the truth is, engaging fully in that role is invaluable time spent on little people who need a faithful, steady hand, and a settled mind focused on the love of God. 

Different women, from the beginning of time, have possessed different qualities. Not one of us has ever been exactly alike. We are like snowflakes. Created by God, we are countless, but all unique. And there’s more than enough room in the world for each of us to be used for His glory. 

In American culture, it can be difficult to feel one iota of personal significance. Unless our faces and bodies are front page magazine worthy, we’re made to feel inferior. Ugly, even. Unless we have a high up corporate job, we’re made to feel useless (thanks, feminism). Unless we have a large, Martha Stewart-ish home, we’re made to feel poor and insignificant. Unless we have a family in addition to all of the above, we’re made to feel jipped. Or depending on our outlook, blessed. Life’s become all about us, rather than those around us. 

There are times when we attain the status we want or gain the monetary blessings we crave, and yet we’re not satisfied and left wondering why. We worked our tails off. We gave it our all, got what the culture told us would be euphoric, and yet … we ended up tired and depressed. 

I think it’s (in part) because what we possess, we aren’t using rightly. We’re misusing our beauty when we sleep with the boss to get a promotion or to accumulate likes on social media. We’re misusing our talents when we promote ourselves with them, rather than our Creator. We misuse our money when we continually up our standard of living rather than help those in need. 

Our prayer in Valley of Vision tells us what to do with everything we’ve been given. In a nutshell, we are to give it back to the Lord. Not to better our circumstances, necessarily. Not to be more admired. Not to get more, better, bigger stuff. But to help others and glorify Him.

It’s all a gift anway, right? What do we have without the help of God Almighty? Yeah, we work hard. But Isaiah 42:5 says that the Lord God created the heavens and stretched them out, spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. 

If you’re on the earth, breathing, it is God’s doing. What we do with that breath is up to us. We can either serve self, or serve others and thereby God. In other words, we can be stingy with our jewels, use our jewels for the wrong purposes, or even hide our jewels (the writer is guilty as charged). But unless we give them back to “the shadow of the safety that is in Him”, we’re not using them rightly, and we won’t experience peace, significance, fulfillment, or happiness. 

Corrie ten Boom once said this: 

When people come up and give me a compliment, I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day, and say “Here you are, Lord, it’s all Yours.” 

I think we can do that with anything we’ve been given. Body, soul, talents, character, success, spouse, children, friends, work, our present, future, and end. Everything. 

Take all the jewels, Lord, they are Yours. I am Yours. Now and forever.

**Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash