Rings, Roses, and Reminders

Going through life, sometimes you don't realize the messages in front of you. The little reminders of God's love and grace are evident in creation and even in some circumstances around us. If we seek God and look for it, He will show us His love in ways you can't even imagine. I would like to share with you some recent reminders God has shown me in the past few weeks.

It was a late Friday night, and my friends and I decided to get out and finally make that trip to the store that we needed to take. While in the car, we were singing worship songs and praising the Lord for his goodness and love towards us. We were so thankful to have the opportunity to travel together and go to the store and be able to buy what we needed. Not like this was out of the ordinary, but thinking about people who don't have this opportunity made us truly grateful for this blessing we have. After we arrived and finished purchasing what we needed, I stumbled upon the coin machines at the exit. For some odd reason, the 25 cent rings caught my eye. I usually don't waste my quarters on these machines, but I felt led to purchase one. Not knowing which ring I was going to get, I was happy to receive this little bronze ring with decorative indents. Weeks later, I began to see a change in my ring as I went about my day. I noticed that every time I washed my hands, the ring started to become shiny and bright. The bronze paint was rubbing off and beautiful silver was being revealed.

Once my ring came to a perfect state and I was admiring its beauty, God brought to my attention how he works in us. The ring was always beautiful, but through time it got perfected. In my eyes, it was a very beautiful ring which I enjoyed every moment, but I admired it even more after it became clean. Much similar to this, God sees us as beautiful in His eyes. We are perfect in his sight, but he sees how much more beautiful we can become, and helps us come to our more perfect state. Kind of like how I kept washing my ring when washing my hands, God washes our hearts and He removes the masks that cover our beauty. God's love for us is so deep that he cares about every single detail in our being.

A few days ago I was receiving a constant reminder of God's love shown through the message of salvation. This topic I wish we pondered on more often, but for when I do ponder on it I am always brought to tears thinking about the immense love Jesus shed for us. On the Tuesday before Valentine's Day, during the afternoon as I went about my work, I was again singing worship songs and praising God. As I was praising Him, the thought of the events of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection came in my mind. I was brought to tears with the thought of His pain that He experienced to save even the lowly simple person like myself. Again on Valentine's Day, I get a similar reminder.

The morning of Valentine's Day it was widely discussed amongst my fellow students, the topic of being single on the day of love. We all decided that there is no shame in being single and that God has given us our friendships so we can express our love of being friends. As I walked into the classroom that morning I was surprised to have received a single red rose on my desk from my very good friend Cierra. The fact that she valued our friendship enough to think of me on Valentine's Day made my day. I was so thankful to have such a good friendship with her and to have someone in my life that genuinely cares about me. Being my favorite flower, I set it up on my desk and admired it for the rest of the day. Again as I was admiring this gift, I was reminded of God's ultimate gift.

God brought to my attention the signification of the rose in comparison to the events of Christ's sacrifice at the crucifixion. The red, velvet-like petals, reminded me of Christ's blood that was shed for us on the Christ. Another aspect of these petals is how perfectly crafted the rose is curled. The petals form such a perfect design to where I never see any imperfections. This is similar to Christ. He was perfect in each and every way, yet He took the punishment for us. The thorns that are on the stem of the rose, reminded me of the pain that Jesus went through. Specifically, a crown of thorns was placed on his head and again just reflecting on the events that soon followed after this persecution brings me to tears.

Isn't it awesome how much God loves us?! He did so much for us and is still doing things out of his love for us. Also, the fact that He constantly reminds us of his love and grace is something to be thankful for. I am so grateful to have these reminders so I can restate and reflect on who I am in Christ. I can remind myself why I love the Lord and what He has done for me. What are some reminders God has shown you? What do you think about the message of salvation in general? Please feel free to contact me with your feedback. I would love to read your comments and discuss further with you the love of Christ!  😊 Thanks for reading!

- Alexandria