Sitting in the Tension

I recently returned from a two week vacation to a place my family has been going for over 40 years. It’s a beautiful little island in south Florida and is rated one of the best shelling places in the world, second only to a spot in Thailand. Personally I’m not a big sheller~ I don’t have the patience required to find the really good ones. Occasionally I’ll happen upon one of the more rare finds but usually those are reserved for shellers like my mom. She spends hours slowly walking along the beach, eyes peeled, looking in the surf and on the shore for that just right shell. She’s been doing this for so long that she can literally get a glimpse of just the tiniest part of a shell sticking out of the sand or rolling along in the waves and she knows what it is and grabs it. She LOVES shells and has a room at home full of her beautiful discoveries.

My middle daughter, Claire, apparently takes after her grandmother in her love of shelling. This year she discovered great joy in searching for these beauties and her favorite way of finding them was digging through piles of broken shells on the shore. She found some treasures hidden among the pieces, some so tiny there was no way to see them without bending down low. She spent hours, like her grandmother, looking for that just-right shell.

My youngest daughter, Emersyn, has a different approach to shelling. Unlike her grandmother and sister, Em isn’t interested in spending as much time shelling but when she does go on hunts, she isn’t necessarily looking for the perfect shell. Sure she enjoys finding ones without any holes or tips broken off, but her favorite finds are pieces that “look like the inside of a rose.” It’s a certain type of shell whose outside layers have broken off and the twisted inside layer is what’s left. She thinks they are beautiful. At the end of the trip when it’s time to pack up the shells we’ve decided to keep, Emersyn’s boxes are full of the “not-so-perfect.” 

The differences in these two girls make me giggle~ their approach to finding shells speaks to their different personalities~ but when I think about it I can’t help but see some spiritual application there as well. 

Claire spends hours searching for beautiful treasures. She knows that what she is searching for is worth the time spent. That there is value in what she finds. Isn’t that similar to how God feels about us? We are His treasures and are of utmost importance to Him. He takes time pursuing us. He doesn’t care how buried we may be in the broken parts of life, He digs through all the mess and lifts us out of it. As scripture tells us, He leaves the ninety-nine to find the one, and all of heaven rejoices when we are found.  

On the flip side of that, God is OUR treasure. He is worth searching for. We will never regret time spent seeking Him. There is no greater pursuit on this earth than the pursuit of God and there is no greater treasure than the relationship that ensues when we make that pursuit our priority. 

Then there’s Emersyn’s approach. Em finds beauty in the imperfect. While some would pass them over, she considers the flawed lovely.  We live in a world that tells us perfection is our goal. That it’s what we should strive for. But that type of striving can take a huge toll on us and end up making us feel less than. God isn’t looking for perfection. He knows we are imperfect and He loves us regardless. 

Scripture tells us that in our weaknesses, He is strong. It tells us that He knows we are but dust yet loves us anyway. That while we were sinners, He died for us. That regardless of that sin, He still sees us as beautiful. He loves us as we are. When the world tells us we are unlovely in all our mistakes and failures, He tells us we are valued and cared for. He takes our imperfections and our weaknesses and uses them to create in us a beauty and grace that comes only from Him. 

When was the last time you thought of yourself as a treasure? As worth being pursued? We have a God who has gone to great lengths to show us how much we mean to Him. The next time you see a seashell, let it be a reminder that you are a priceless treasure to an amazing, loving God. Flaws and all.

Sitting in the tension of imperfection eclipsed by grace.