Antimony
The other night the Lord led me to read in Isaiah 54, a chapter through which God has spoken many promises into my life, that I cling too tightly. But on this particular night, God reminded me of two very important things:
He hears us and He loves us
He has a greater purpose which we cannot always see
Seems pretty obvious, but sometimes the most basic truths can be the most difficult to believe.
Earlier that day, I had been speaking to a friend about some anxiety I'd been struggling with and how it sometimes felt like there was just this storm inside my head that just wouldn't be quieted. As I prayed that night, I asked God to help me through it, and He led me to this:
“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of agate,
your gates of carbuncles,
and all your wall of precious stones."
(Isaiah 54:11-12)
Scary, yet amazing, how God always knows EXACTLY what is in our hearts and what we are going through. God caught my attention with "storm-tossed one", reminding me that He hears me and that He knows my heart better than I know myself.
But what He pointed out to me next absolutely blew my mind. As I read this verse, God told me to look up the word "antimony", which to be honest...I usually just skimmed over because I didn't really know what it meant. I thought I had the basic idea, but what I discovered changed everything.
Before I continue, can I just say...GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR EVERY SINGLE WORD IN HIS WORD. WOW!!!
In my searching, I came across a post that explained what "antimony" was and it was so powerful and so beautiful that I had to share it with you.
Antimony "refers to the way metals are mixed and weighted for greater power and strength...We wouldn’t place a beautiful diamond in a tin setting that might cave under the weight, and God wouldn’t place our gifts in a weak or unsubstantial mounting either.....God is building a life for each one of us that is rock solid. He wants our gifts shown brilliantly and with splendor. He wants us to shine and sparkle as we are held up to the light. Our setting is durable and mighty, and it displays God’s faithfulness to us."
I MEAN....WOW!
Before when I read this verse, I knew that God wanted to make us as precious stones. That we were worthy and valuable to Him, and that He wanted to restore and redeem the broken pieces of our lives into something beautiful, purifying and sanctifying our lives. But what I didn't realize before is that the setting of the stone is perhaps the most important part of it.
God wants us to be refined and purified for His glory! He wants us to shine brightly and to be best positioned to use the gifts He has given us to glorify Him. He wants us to have the strength to hold up the weight of callings He's placed on our lives, but sometimes that means, metals have to be mixed.
God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that what might look to us as trials and pain, is all a part of His perfect mixture of "antimony" for our lives, in which to set His precious, and beloved jewel to shine her best. Through my own eyes, through the eyes of the world, we often do not understand what God is doing, but God knows the infinite value of each His "jewels" and loves us too much to place us in a setting that will not be rock solid in Him. Wow. What a good, good Father.
I shared this new found knowledge with some wonderful, godly friends of mine who added to this beautiful discovery by saying how we are Christ's bride, and how BEAUTIFUL is it that He has chosen to design our lives to create the most beautiful, sturdy, lasting, brilliant, pure, precious ring possible in marriage to Him. Wow.
I hope that this encouraged your heart the way it did mine, remembering that in every season and every struggle, God is setting our stones in antimony so that we can shine brightly for His Kingdom! ✨ Amen!
If you'd like to read the full post I found on the meaning of antimony, you can find it here: https://hannahscupboard.com/wake-feb07-5/