All to Him

We heard a song in church yesterday morning whose words moved me so much that I had to sit down and write them out.
I won't formulate an expository interpretation of the song because the words stand for themselves. Maybe they'll speak to you as much as they did to me.
The song is called "All to Him" and here are the words:

For every mountain that is high, He is higher
For every burden that is great, He is greater
For every valley that is deep, He is deeper still
More than we can know
For every fear that closes in, He is closer
For every doubt that comes on strong, He is stronger
For every battle that we face, He has conquered all
More than we can know
Our promise is Jesus
Our answer is Jesus
All to Him
All to Him we owe everything
Our savior is Jesus
Our future is Jesus
All to Him
All to Him we owe everything
We know the great God
We serve the great God
We owe the great God
Everything all to Him

The glass factory

It felt as if we were dropped in the middle of an Alice in Wonderland storybook.

I could not believe my eyes as I took in our surroundings. It felt like a dream, but this is no fairytale.

While enjoying dinner with some friends at our house recently, we asked them about their favorite thing to do in this city.

There are no real “tourist attractions” where we live. (There are almost no tourists here, so why would there be fun things for tourists to do?)

That’s why we’re always looking for new ideas of interesting things to do as a family.

Our friends told us of a place that they like to go to whenever they have visitors come to town. They said it used to be one of the largest “tourist” attractions in our city before Cyclone Nargis came and almost destroyed the place.

It was a glass factory back in the day. Large groups would come through to see first-hand how the beautiful glass pieces were made. Hand-blown and fired in huge kilns, stunning artwork was the final product.

Our friends told us the factory was now just a shadow of its former glory, that it was completely devastated after the cyclone. They said, however, that now it’s an even more unique experience, and quite the worthwhile trip.

So we met them one afternoon to make the short drive to the glass factory.

We had just barely turned off the main road when we arrived at a hole in the wall. Literally, we drove through a small opening in a long cement wall. The main entrance to the factory had been rendered unusable by the cyclone damage pushing mounds of dirt and mud against the original gate.

Our driver maneuvered through the new “entrance” and into a jungle-like setting. There were trees all around the dirt path we drove down, barely leaving enough room for a vehicle to get through. I couldn’t help but wonder how many snakes were out there…

I was just considering the idea when the road stopped – a dead end with more trees.

“Um, is this it?” I asked. There was nothing to see but trees and vines.

“There’s a path through the brush,” my friend replied.

It was about this time I was wondering what I had got myself into.

We unloaded the van and filed one by one through a narrow, winding path. Thankfully, it was a short path and it opened up at clearing revealing a building whose walls were no more. There were table displays in the open-air setting overflowing with glass vases, dishes, bowls, figurines and more. There was a gorgeous green and blue glass chess set and a small nativity scene made up of several pieces of hand-fashioned glass.

There were cabinets filled to capacity with every size and shape of glass, flute, goblet, chalice and cup. Every surface was covered with various and quite unique forms of crystal. It was amazing…

But then the manager of the place told us that there was more, much more.

There were paths leading away from the damaged structure. It looked like huge mounds of dirt overflowed along the sides of each path at first glance, but just then sun rays broke through the trees and I noticed flecks of colors glistening from the mounds.

The mounds were filled with dirt, but also with every kind of glass vessel as I had seen in the showroom.

Apparently when the cyclone came through, the water and mud spilled over all the glass but when the water finally receded, it left all the pieces mixed in with the soil and sludge in these huge masses.

Everywhere you looked there were piles and piles of glass heaps.

Even mixed with the soil, you could see brilliant colors of red and gold creating mini rainbows against the backdrop of the greenery surrounding the area.

But what amazed me most was that so much of the glass was unbroken. That’s where the factory’s business now comes from.

The cyclone destroyed the factory. The once humongous kilns now sit in a mass of broken down rubble. The tools all rusted and evaporated into the mud heaps.

All that remains is yards and yards of beautiful glass.

Now, individuals can come to the glass factory and sift through the mounds. Find what you want and buy it as is. The tricky part is getting the piece you want out of the mud without breaking it.

It was like a glass garden, but instead of pulling carrots out of the ground, it was unique vases and jars, light fixtures and pieces of chandelier.

Everywhere you looked, there was glass. It was absolutely amazing.

I pulled out of the dirt a small, yellow giraffe with brown specks running down its back. There were multi-colored, fish-looking wall sconces. I found drinking glasses fashioned in the shape of wood logs.

Once you found something you liked, you could give it to one of the staff workers and they would take it and clean it, removing the caked on dirt and debris. They could make any item look as good as new.

After much searching in pure amazement at all that was there, I discovered a tall, turquoise, bubbled-glass vase. In the states, the urn would surely cost more than a hundred dollars, and I almost hesitated to ask the manager the cost of my desired object.

She looked the piece over as she brushed some dirt and cobwebs out of the inside.

“Twenty-five dollars,” she quoted a price.

“It’s mine!” I said, trying to keep my cool before she changed her mind and asked for more.

“What are you going to do with that huge, old vase?” CJ asked me as he got out his wallet.

“I don’t really know,” I said. “It’s just so beautiful, and I want to remember this day and this discovery.”

The truth is, I kept thinking how much those precious pieces of glass were like life. We were all fashioned by the Great Artist, each one His beautiful and unique creation. But we get swept away by the world, and the storms of life mess us up leaving behind something dirty and hollow.

The Master doesn’t leave us or stop loving us though. No matter how far we wander from our Creator, He seeks us out. He gently lifts us out of the muck and cleanses our souls. He restores us to something that is beautiful and reflects who He is to others.

As I looked around the glass garden at the vast and immeasurable number of vessels there, I kept thinking of all the people who live in this country and in our home country that are just waiting for someone to tell them about Father.

Sometimes it seems overwhelming because there are so many, and I can’t do it all on my own. I wonder who else will do their part to share the Living Water with those who need to be rescued? Could it be you?

It’s not that hard. You don’t even have to do the cleaning or restoration work. You just have to let the Light shine through you, so that others can be found from within their dark places.

I know I’ll never forget the experience of the glass factory, and likewise I hope that every time I look at my beautiful turquoise vase, I’ll be reminded of those who are just waiting to be rescued.

Psalm 63:1-4

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift my hands.