A friend of ours told us about a lady in his area who recently lost her husband. They had a beautiful farm - more than she actually wanted to maintain. Some of it was devoted to a wonderful vegetable garden she had cared for over many years. After her husband's death, she offered to let her neighbors treat that garden as if it were their garden. One day, the man next door was picking carrots from the garden when he suddenly stopped to examine one carrot that was exceedingly unusual shall we say. It seemed to have grown in an hourglass shape, wide at the top and bottom, but very narrow at the center. As he brushed the dirt off that carrot, he was shocked at what he found - it was a gold ring! Somehow, the carrot had grown all around and through that ring. Inside the ring was a date from fifty years ago! The neighbor took it to the widow, who promptly melted into tears. Her husband, who had died just after their 50th anniversary, had given her this ring on their wedding day. But she had lost it many years ago, and now this precious treasure had been found in a most unlikely place!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Treasure in the Dirt."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 3:10 and it expresses the passion of the Apostle Paul's heart in five little words that framed his life. Here they are, "I want to know Christ." Paul understood that this Jesus-relationship is the center of his life, and what our life will be all about for eternity. So, after 30 years of a dynamic walk with and ministry for Jesus, he's still in pursuit - "I want to know Christ."
And he goes on, "And (I want to know) the power of His resurrection." Couldn't you use more of the resurrection power in your life to handle what's happening in your life? Then he says, "And the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings ... becoming like Him in His death." Power of His resurrection - good! Sufferings - I don't like those. But the way to the power is through the pain! You can't have an Easter without a Good Friday! And you may be living in the Good Friday part of the process right now.
But remember what happened in that garden. They found precious treasure in the dirt; in a place you would never expect to find it. That's how it is with really getting close to Jesus. The greatest treasures are often found in the grit and dirt of our pain and our pressure.
Notice the beautiful word that redeems that painful word "suffering." It says, the "fellowship" of sharing in His sufferings. You can touch Jesus in the valley in ways you could never touch Him on the mountaintop. Those who know Jesus most intimately, who radiate His power most evidently, are those who have walked through deep valleys with Him.
There's a bonding with Jesus that can take place when you've run out of you, run out of your resources and just collapsed in His strong and loving arms. There is a release of His power in your life that wasn't possible when you were still able to go on your own power. But those who know Jesus best are those who have needed Him the most. And those who need Him the most are those who are going through the most.
You don't get to choose whether or not you get to go through this painful time, but you can decide that you will capture this time to know Jesus as you have never known Him before. If you're going to get the pain, you might as well get the point. You're in a position now to discover what that gardener found in a very unlikely place - what suffering believers have discovered in God's garden for centuries - that there is great treasure in the dirt!
