As a self-employed hair stylist, I was unable to work for two and a half months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My situation was not unique, but it does explain why the story I’m about to tell is worth telling.
Our family’s income was effectively cut in half in the middle of March, 2020. My second week out of work, we received a surprise $500 check in the mail from a sweet friend and client. Unhindered tears fell from my eyes. My three kids watched with wide eyes while I silently read the enclosed note. With a broken voice, I explained that God was showing us His faithfulness.
I called my husband to share the good news. As he picked up, I blurted out, “On the mountain!” He knew something had happened. Early in our marriage, whenever the Lord showed up in an obvious way, Luis would call me and chessily declare: “On the mountain of the Lord!” He had borrowed this phrase from the place in Scripture where God provided a ram in the thicket as a sacrifice so that Abraham would not have to sacrifice his son, Issac. After this incident, Abraham said, “On the mountain of the LORD, it will be provided” (Gen 22:14). This phrase has passed our lips many times over the years as the Lord has continued to reveal his faithfulness to us.
Early on, we began to keep a “blessing box,” which contained some small piece of memorabilia to help us recall God’s provision for us. While doing our corona house cleanup together, our daughter discovered this dust-covered box in the basement. Embarrassed, I silently wondered if we had grown comfortable in our "security."
After I hung up with my husband, I immediately put the check in a pouch where we keep our checkbooks.
Two days later, I opened the pouch, ready to deposit the check. There was no check and no card! I dumped the entire thing out and fingered through each individual item. I was dumbfounded and panicked! I specifically remembered placing it in this “safe place.”
Frantic, I began to tear the house apart, looking for this check. I had already thoroughly cleaned every nook and cranny of our home. My house was more clean and organized than it had been in many years. I looked in the pouch again. No check, no note.
The entire family was now on the hunt, going through the recycling basket and through the mail. I even made Luis dig through the stinky garbage. It was nowhere to be found.
While home together, the kids and I had been memorizing Phil. 4:6-7 which says, “Don’t worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds human understanding. God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (NLT).” Remembering our Bible verse, the kids stopped to pray that God would reveal it to us and give us peace. Reassured of these truths, I was filled with calm once again.
Still, the check remained missing. I looked in the pouch a third time, emptying it once more. I knew that if I told my generous friend what had happened, she would have understood. But it was embarrassing... and frustrating!
The following Saturday morning as my body was just starting to wake, my sleep was softly stirred with five resonating words: “The pearl of great price. The pearl of great price. The pearl of great price...” Like a whisper in my soul.
Loudly interrupting that thought was another. This one sounded more like screeching brakes. I had lost a big check and had no idea where to find it!
I rolled out of bed, opened my Bible and found the parable in Matt. 13:45-46 that states, “Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it" (NLT).
There was actually another story that I had confused with the story of the pearl. This one is found in Luke 15:8-10. Jesus says, “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents (NLT).”
I could relate to this woman! I had looked everywhere for the money! But the pearl of great price was about something else. It was about true value. I felt Jesus allowed me to see through these two parables what was going on in my house and in my heart. I was searching high and low for the lost money, but I felt His gentle reminder that He is worth that kind of search. He is the gift worth more than all the riches in the world.
Had I diminished Him? I sensed a strong, yet gentle reminder to keep Him as my first and only focus. To keep my eyes fixed on Him, the pearl of great price. To search for Him as I searched for the $500 check. Wait on Him in faith, don't worry.
Later that day, I opened the pouch to pull out my checkbook and pay a bill. To my great surprise, the $500 check was the very first thing I saw! It was not tucked obscurely between other items─it sat in plain sight, along with the note from my friend.
This was immediately followed by a happy dance that I gleefully performed for my three children.
God has a sense of humor! I can just picture Jesus with his heels kicked up, relaxing with an easy smile, watching the mayhem inside of me, knowing all the while what he was going to do.
I have no explanation other than that God hid it on me until I saw what He was trying to show me. My treasure is not here on earth, where moth and rust destroy. Jesus alone is the pearl of great price, worth searching the world over to find.
Our dusty blessing box was a picture of a reality that even after more than thirty years of following Christ, I need to be reminded of over and over again: Jesus Himself is the pearl of great price, deserving of all of me. Comfort and security can become a blinder to remembering this foundational truth of a life lived in God. He is my source and His resources are limitless. Jesus made His way back to the center of my sights, where He belongs.
The note from my friend made its way to the blessing box, where it belongs─and the blessing box took up residence on the first floor again, where it belongs.
~ By Jamie Santana
Jamie Santana has been called by God to work as a hairstylist for the last 15 years and disciple women whenever and wherever possible. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Service and Dispute Resolution and works with Loving Venti Consulting to help small and medium sized nonprofits meet the needs of the community. She also serves on the board of Meraki Tent, a ministry for girls and women to discover their true identity in Christ. Jamie lives in Milwaukee, Wis., with her husband and three children. You can find her blog at: www.jamiesantana.wordpress.com.
