My Alabaster Box

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I did not know what I had.

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Most people think of the alabaster box that was broken to anoint the feet of Yahshua before his death, and the woman who wiped his feet with her tears and hair.

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This is a different story, but there are similar elements.

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I had spent many long years, over 20 years, praying for my children and family.

20 years is a long time…….

Many times there was both fasting and prayer.

Nothing .

Then there were a few hopeful moments about 15 years ago, then everything crashed again, and stayed terrible.

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So many heartaches on my heart.

Night after night I prayed.

I was very tired, and many times would give the Lord “short quick prayers” like “Lord, you already know what I am going to ask for, so please let it happen soon.”  

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No answer.

Maybe I would never live to see an answer.

I felt like a failure in prayer, I must not be fervent enough.

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In recent years, the national and international news was of more of a concern.

Economic crashes, political dangers, moral issues.

I had still so much to do each day, and this wore me down also.

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Then yesterday, I was rushing around, because I was preparing for Passover, and helping someone get ready for an international flight for early today.

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I left one room to go into another room, and came around the corner too quickly, accidently knocking a small vase off my vanity.

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It was a beautiful little vase my father had brought back from Korea, and one of the few things I had to remember him by.

I had put some blue silk flowers in it.

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I heard the crash and looked down.

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Then I heard the words in my mind:

“Alabaster box.”

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When I bent down to pick up the broken vase, the most incredible, beautiful fragrance came out of it, like real flowers, perfume, and sweet powder.

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I had put some vermiculite in the bottom of the vase to weigh it down a little, and keep the silk flowers in place.

Vermiculite does not smell.

It is odorless.

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But in this case, the beautiful fragrance was coming from the vermiculite!

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I decided not to clean up the spill because it smelled so nice.

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This vase has been in my room all those 20 years as I cried and prayed, sighed, gave up, and then tried again.

I never thought about it, except to dust it and keep it clean.

Somewhere in the bible, or maybe it is just folklore, it says that all our tears and prayers are collected in a bottle, and bring a sweet fragrance before the Lord.

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I think I just found my own bottle. It is a replica of the one in heaven.

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I believe during all those years I prayed, my vase with the silk flowers was collecting my tears and prayers, and the Lord allowed it to break, to let me know how much my prayers and tears meant to Him.

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I know He will answer my prayers someday. The requests mean a lot to both of us.

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The redeemed in Revelation in heaven are represented as "holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Revelation 5:8.

"You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?" (Psalm 56:8).

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Thought

For those of you who have prayed and prayed, for days, and months and years, and have seen

no answer, no hope, no change…….

remember that every tear and prayer is saved by God in his bottle for you.

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Do not give up in your prayer requests.

Your tears are not wasted.

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The longer you cry, and wait, the more beautiful the fragrance will be before Him.

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This fragrance is so tender and holy to Him, and He will surely answer your prayers.