Searching for Silver by Kendra Cervantes

Proverbs 2:1-5

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

A bright Saturday morning. The car was packed with water and snacks as we drove up the dusty Mexican road to the city of Taxco, south of Mexico City. I sat in the back seat of the van, my pride hurt from being told by a missionary, whom I didn’t know that well, that my friend and I were not allowed to go to Acapulco on our two-day break from teaching English. It was too dangerous for us to go by ourselves and he didn’t want to take us. As the car putted along, I remember thinking, Lord, I just wanted the experience. I just wanted to say,

“Yea, I went to Acapulco during Spring Break.”

As we approached the city, my face was probably green from carsickness, my feet swollen from being slightly dehydrated, and my eyes sad from not getting what I wanted. I sought after that trip to Acapulco and tried everything I could to go, but that experience wasn’t what the Lord had for me. As the mountains began to break, a city set into the side of the mountains began to appear. Buildings whiter than snow, I felt like I was in heaven, literally. The sun beat down on the cobble stone roads, and the rooftops twinkled like diamonds. For the next several hours, the goal (according to the missionary) was to spend the day understanding each other more and relaxing. Well, since I was here, I might as well make the best out of it for myself and make up for lost souvenir-buying time I would have had in Acapulco.

I was going to find something that I wanted to buy, so I set my heart on a silver pendant of the Aztec calendar. A friend of mine had one and I liked the way it looked, so I decided I wanted something to remind me of the culture and people AND, more importantly, to show off to my friends. I spent the entire day searching for this necklace. The city had to have one somewhere, after all, it is called “The Silver City.” Store after store the venders would shake their heads and say, “Sorry, we don’t have those.” The day was coming to an end and we needed to leave before the sun set. I said, “One more store! Please!” as I went running up some stairs to another jewelry shop.

Finally! I found it! In a store set back on a side street, the necklace I had been looking for all day! Look everyone! But at what cost? I spent the day worried about finding a piece of jewelry to show off, rather than spending that time getting to know my friends and the missionary more. I wanted the chance to say, “I bought this in Mexico.” I was looking for an experience—a future experience at that—and not to understand anyone more. I lacked wisdom in knowing how to prioritize my desire for an “experience” over understanding, over people, over whatever else the Lord had for me to learn.

One thing that the Lord has taught me through all of my journeys is to seek Him and not the experience. To seek to know Him more. To seek to understand Him more.

“…if you seek it [it being UNDERSTANDING, WISDOM, KNOWING GOD] like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:4-5)

Holy Cow! Like a ton of bricks on my face!

I started thinking, “Have I sought after the Lord, His words, and His commandments the way I sought after this piece of jewelry?” Do I have a heart inclined to seek wisdom, or am I aimlessly looking for the chance to brag about my traveling experiences or the things I have?

“If you seek it like silver…”

Seeking the Lord like silver isn’t easy for anyone. It is much easier to ignore the task of seeking for the Lord than to have a reckoning with yourself, and with your motives. To put what you want out of your experiences over what the Lord wanted to teach you through them.

Now I wear this necklace as a reminder to myself of my time in Taxco, but more importantly of my priorities. My challenge to you is the same as to myself: seek the Lord and not just the experience.

Our Guest Blogger this week is Kendra Cervantes, from Aurora, IL.  She graduated from the Moody Bible Institute with a Bachelors of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) and Bible. Before Moody, she was exposed to overseas missions trips and knew that the Lord was calling her to serve Him in another country. Through a series of divine appointments, Kendra joined CAM International in Dallas, TX. After support raising for 1 1/2yrs, she departed for Montevideo, Uruguay on June 16th, 2010 where she will serve on a church planting team. Kendra will spend the next two years being trained and mentored under veteran missionaries. Her heart's desire is to serve long term in Spain, mobilizing Latinos in the less reached areas of the world.