It started as a cute little notion, really. I sent our babysitter a payment through Venmo one evening and had to put something down in the “what’s it for” space. We had just come from an event designed to raise awareness for cyber trafficking of children in the Philippines, and one of the speakers shared that she was only able to be there because she knew that her little boy was home, safely kept by his caregivers. I was able to say the same thing that evening. I could spend my time and energy to help others because my own little treasures were being safely guarded at home by an amazing babysitter. “Guarding Treasure” has since become the code for babysitting in my Venmo posts.
Yesterday was my youngest son’s birthday, and I drank in every moment I could (amid the chaos all around), celebrating all that God has put inside of him. Probably the most beautiful part for me as a mother was seeing him surrounded by a host of people that I knew loved him unconditionally. Each person who showed up poured acceptance over him and celebrated his uniqueness. It was no ordinary birthday bash, from where I stood.
Maybe because I know the promises spoken over him. Maybe because I hold hints of his future within my heart, and am therefore able to see how the pieces are beginning to come together. Maybe because I have devoted my life to guarding the treasure God has placed inside of him. Whatever the reasons, yesterday stirred something within me that is still speaking today.
Standing in that pizza parlor, watching carefully selected people hover over my little guy and pour love and encouragement into him, I realized the value of investing myself to protect what God has placed within a heart. Whether it is my children, someone else God places in my path, or even my own self, I am becoming more and more aware of the importance of guarding the treasure found within the human race.
We were created in the image of God, designed to carry a representation of Him into a broken and hurting world. We literally possess treasure on the inside, and if we aren’t careful to guard that treasure – to invest our time in protecting it from influences that seek to rob us of it – what we end up bringing to the world will be so much less that it was intended to be.
My little guy is amazing. As a mom, that’s easy for me to say. But others say it, too. He’s different. And he’s okay with being different, because I have guarded him from the influences that would have sought to make him feel uncomfortable with being different. I have protected what God placed inside of him from the voices that would have told him he needed to conform to a different image. That stance has cost me a lot in terms of time and energy and the ability to pursue other, seemingly more satisfying things. I’ve suffered criticism and accusation and mockery because of it. But watching him be okay with who he is and who he is becoming, and realizing that – every day and every month and every year – the mark he was meant to leave in the world is becoming clearer, makes it worth everything.
When I think of the value of my investment in guarding his treasure, it makes me all the more determined to stand my guard. It makes me want to take this job more seriously than ever. It makes me want to fight through every distraction and every difficulty in order to ensure that what exists within him is preserved, developed, and released as it was intended to be. It is a sacred stewardship of Heaven, and moments like yesterday serve to remind me that it is something I’ve not just been assigned to, but entrusted with. It’s worth giving my life for.
Children are precious. They will soon rule the world we are now praying to save. If we aren’t diligent in guarding the treasure they possess, or rather the treasure they are, then the hope within them – the God within them – will be traded for the corruption that is already closing in on them. There is a dire need for us to be awakened to the generation coming up behind us, and to invest ourselves in protecting them and nurturing them into their true identities.
But what about you and I? What about our generation? What I saw yesterday in my son, and in the value of guarding his treasure, is transferable to us, too. There is treasure within us, as well. And it’s not only worth protecting, but in desperate need of protection.
Sadly, it is easy for us to grow up in a world that doesn’t recognize the value of the treasure we possess, and to lose sight of its value because others can’t see it. When that happens, we either bury our treasure, or we trade it for something far less valuable. The good news, however, is that its not too late to recover our treasure! It’s not too late to be awakened to the value of what God has placed inside each one of us! And it’s not too late to take a determined stance to guard it well.
Dear Woman of Breakthrough, may it begin with you today! May you see in yourself the image of God you were always meant to bear and release. And may you find it worth protecting. May you determine to begin now, choosing carefully the influences you allow, and fighting off the distractions sent to rob you of your treasure.
Something beautiful I’ve learned from my own experience of treasure-hunting is that, as we are awakened to the treasure within ourselves, it becomes easier and more of a priority to recognize and protect the treasure in others. And as we gather around each other, bringing forth our guarded treasure, treasure reflects treasure, rather than the fool’s gold all around us. And authentic expressions of God create an atmosphere where people can encounter Heaven and be changed. This is how we were designed to live.
May it become true for you, dear Woman of Breakthrough, starting right here, right now! May the world be different because we decided to guard that which we’ve been entrusted with, in ourselves and in each other.
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
{Photo images courtesy of http://www.pixabay.com}
She Dances Over Graves 