This morning I read a wonderful image in God is Enough from Hannah Whitall Smith. She says to imagine all the “homely services of our daily lives and the little sacrifices each day demands” as “rungs in the ladder by which we are mounting to our thrones.” Each little death to self is a rung in the ladder towards our true home, our true identity, and our true calling. I like the image. I can imagine myself before a Spirit-filled task like loving an enemy or surrendering my rights to my own way and whispering, “Well, it’s a rung in my ladder.”
Each day, I’m climbing higher and closer to home.
The image resonates with something a woman told me after I had my first child. Every day felt impossible. She told me to imagine I was building a life like I was making a great long strand of pearls. Each day I completed with God’s power was a fresh strand on the necklace. What I love about the pearl imagery is how pearls are made–through friction, abrasion, and irritation. Every hard day that came reminded me that I was making a pearl from the day. At the end of the day, I pictured stringing the pearl on my necklace. One day, I would wear the completed necklace with joy.
Rungs and pearls. If it’s a hard day for you of what feels like sacrifice and impossible tasks, think of today as a step up and a pearl added.