With all the love-shaped sentiments swirling this week, as Valentine's Day approaches, our hearts were drawn to a favorite "love-expression" from the One who loves us the most.
"Oh, afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels and all your walls of precious stones." Isaiah 54:11-12
Wow. Now that's real love. A promise to each of us that even when we're feeling a bit "storm-tossed", "not-comforted", or "afflicted", we will be made established, firm and as rock-solid as a precious stone.
We've always been a bit intrigued by that word "antimony" mentioned in the first part of this expression. What exactly is it? We were pretty sure it meant something good. Today we discovered that this substance has a very, unique characteristic. It's "resistant to fire". Yeah, it's actually used as a "fire-retardant". So, the promise above took on some new meaning for us today, a deeper expression of love and care actually. It's as if God is not only letting us know He'll shape us up into a precious jewel, He's saying, no matter how hot the "fires" or challenges may burn in our lives, He's wrapping a fire-resistant shield around us. He's "setting our stones", our lives, in antimony. It's fire-resistant. It's real love.
So, today, if you're facing a few "fires" in life, or feeling as rough-cut as these raw stones above, remember you have a real lover of your soul who is waiting to "set" your life into antimony... into a fire-resistant, firm foundation. A settled place, a beautiful place, a loved place. A place where you will become a sparkling jewel, a battlement of rubies, a wall of precious stones. Oh, you are so strong wrapped in His love.
The Velvet Lime Girls
