The Jewel

A pastor friend has asked me to write a testimony on how God had come through for me in my wait for a husband. I started attending her church in 2010 after a breakup which left me emotionally spent..and was doubtful that a walk down the aisle was ever going to materialize..and she has been praying and ministering to me through the years..

Now that I am very happily married to a wonderful man, she reckons that the story of my journey might encourage other women...

Backtrack to August 2013...the following is a status update which I posted on Facebook a couple weeks after the wedding...

Looking back at my notes...I came across a single sentence written more than a year ago...God had told me, rather clearly... "Until you start to see yourself as a jewel, I cannot give you away...." 
 
At that time, I was not attached...(but very anxious to be!)..and I didn't know what He meant...and was quite annoyed..."Can't You just send me someone first and fix me later?!"

But now, I think I finally get what He was trying to say.....if a woman sees herself as a pearl of great worth....and believes that she is a priceless asset to her husband, she will expect and elicit tenderness, love and respect from him and in the process, bringing out the best in him as well....

*** 

Actually the analogy of the jewel was fleshed out further.... God showed me that I was selling myself at a flea market as if I was a worthless trinket and was allowing random passers by to manhandle the jewel...and when they beat down the price just for fun, my confidence was further diminished and thought, "yup, I'm really not worth that much.."

God told me that, no, I am such a precious and beautiful jewel in His eyes that He wants me to be kept in the safety box of a top jeweler...till there is a genuine buyer and only when the jeweler knows that the buyer is sincere and has the means to pay the price...that He will take the gem out from the secret hiding place with gloved hands and show it proudly to the buyer who would be bedazzled and more than willing to pay the astronomical price for the privilege of owing the treasure.

So there. 

This is the best advice I can offer every single girl...

Beloved daughter of God, until you are secure in your identity as a priceless jewel belonging to the King of Kings and believe that you are worthy of love and respect....He will keep you close to His bosom and sing over you till your heart is fully restored so that your beauty can shine...

Then and only then, will He present you to the man of His dreams who will love Him and love you and gladly lay down his life for you.