A Place of Hidden Treasure

How many of you are Zelda fans? I am. As a kid and teenager, it was my favorite Nintendo game. Of course as a girl, I loved the story of Link's bravery to embark on a great unknown journey in order to rescue Princess Zelda from the evil Ganondorf. There were many lands to explore, enemies to conquer, tasks to accomplish, and helpless victims to rescue. Seriously, it is still the only game worth playing! Link could do very little until he had the simple basics: a sword and a shield. Once he gained these weapons, the journey really begins! As in any journey, he needs money. There were plenty of ways to find those precious rupees. My favorite? Find the field. There were always tons of hidden rupees amongst the shrubs! I would find that field and cut down every living thing, collecting rupees until my wallet was busting at the seams.

I bring back all this nostalgia for a purpose. This reminds me of one of the shortest and simplest of all the parables in the gospel. Matthew 13:44 says,

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

The kingdom of heaven is of more worth than anything here on this earth. It is worth giving up everything I have in order to keep it. In fact, in joy we give up all things for it! I've always loved this parable, but only recently did I read something that Elisabeth Elliot wrote in reference to it in her book, The Path of Loneliness. She writes,

"Our loneliness cannot always be fixed, but it can always be accepted as the very will of God for now, and that turns into something beautiful. Perhaps it is like the field wherein lies the valuable treasure. We must buy the field. It is no sun-drenched meadow embroidered with wildflowers. it is a bleak and empty place, but once we know it contains a jewel the whole picture changes. The empty scrap of forgotten land suddenly teems with possibilities. Here is something worth selling everything to buy. In my case, 'selling everything' meant giving up the self-pity and bitter questions. I do not mean we are to go out looking for chances to be as lonely as possible. I am talking about acceptance of the inevitable. And when, through a willed act we receive this thing we did not want, then Loneliness, the name of the field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure."

So, whether you are experiencing the loneliness of a new job, a new town, a new season of life, singleness, the loss of someone or something you love, an empty nest, a small community, or whatever else God deems worthy of allowing into your present circumstances, have hope. It is a place of hidden treasure. God is using it for such good purposes of which we will not fully understand the depths this side of heaven. And believe me when I say you are not alone in your loneliness. That doesn't sound like it makes sense, even when I say it to myself. But I have learned how very true it is as Christ comes along side me on every lonely journey this season has to offer. I praise God for that, and I am so thankful that this field I have taken hold of is brimming with hidden treasure and precious rupees.