Red-ripe jewels

It’s raspberry-picking time at the small “patch” in our back yard, meaning every couple days I pick the ripest red jewels and store them in the refrigerator. It takes several days to get the six cups I need to make freezer jam. But oh, how yummy.

I’m a raspberry-picker from w-a-y back as it was my first paid “job” in grade school. One of my dad’s co-workers also had a large berry farm, and was open to having youth come pick. Though I was only about nine, I picked alongside my teenage sister, earning enough to buy my school supplies. Long, hot, dusty days? You know it. But I preferred raspberries over the thorny blackberries we picked at another place.

The other day as I sat on an upended bucket, plying through leaves in search of hidden berries, I thought of how Proverbs 4:2 speaks of seeking wisdom from God: “Search for it as for hidden treasure.”

Like berries, scriptures don’t “ripen” in personal meaning all at once. A passage that seemed “not me” at one point in my life may come alive at a different time. Or, a verse in one chapter may blink like a neon light when I go through a certain hard time. Later on, another part of that chapter will be a guiding light. The other morning, for example, I was reading Psalm 56. In previous times of thinking on this psalm, I’d highlighted verse 8, about God taking special note of our tears. This time, the word “trust” jumped out at me
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. (v. 3)
In God I trust; I will not be afraid. (vs. 4, 11)
David wrote this psalm about being caught between two life-threatening negatives: the murderous rampage of King Saul, and the bloodthirstiness of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy. I’m certainly not running around with my trusty sword and shield, hiding in caves. But I do face invisible enemies of circumstances and relationships beyond my ability to solve or even appease. They’re God-size problems.

That’s probably why “trust” jumped out of this psalm. That word was the treasure with the sweetness of God’s mercy infused in it, ready for “picking” at just this time of need in my life.