Made Perfect

The jeweler took such pains in polishing and perfecting all His lovely rocks and stones. He asked me if I would like to assist him and I admitted I certainly would but I had no talent or knowledge to offer Him in this endeavor.

"Surely you can watch and learn," He chided, but I still was not sure that I could cope with all the intricacies involved. After all, He was such a perfectionist. Even defects that were not noticeable without a magnifying glass had to be removed.

"I need co-workers," He told me. "There is so much left to be done." "Alright," I finally agreed, "I will do my best. . . but please watch over me and guide my efforts." With that, I was led to a back room. It was a quiet place with plenty of light and warmth. There were several large boxes of rocks just brought in from the quarry. It was awesome to realize that I was being made a partner in the production of precious gems. To look upon the newly hewn rocks, one could not imagine the glorious outcome. As I took into my hands the first stone to be chiseled and smoothed, the Master gemologist handed me a solvent to use while I was chipping away. He bid me not to use it sparingly, for the more that I used it, the better the results I would have. As I took the jar from his hand, I was alarmed to discover the name it bore. The solvent, so important in this process was named suffering. "Don't be baffled," The Expert told me. "Suffering has always been helpful in perfecting My jewels. Most often it works better and faster than anything else."

I took the suffering that He gave me and found His words to be accurate and true. Suffering does help to make perfect.

--given in a dream to Frankie Moore

See John 15:20; 1 Peter 1:7, 2:5, 4:12, 5:10; 2 Cor. 8:2; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 21:19; Mal. 3:17