Chamber Of Incense | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Chamber Of Incense | Previous Challenge Entry
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10/31/05
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Chamber of Incense

“Oh, God! How could you let this happen to me?” Jeni screamed with clenched fists and gritted teeth. Silence. The deafening silence seemed to mock her. The room she had deliberately clothed in darkness perfectly mirrored the state of her soul. Numbed with sorrow, Jeni rehearsed the devastating scenes...each word, each nuance...but what was the use now? Death is silent, final. Still, the same agonizing question surfaced, “Why, God? You are supposed to love me! I’ve walked with You. I know You. Why?

Fatigued from days of bitter tears and no answers, Jeni finally succumbed to an exhausted sleep.

“Jeni! Jeni!”

Instantly she recognized that Voice.

“Come, I want to show you something.”

Without hesitation, Jeni grasped His strong hand and walked along with Him.
Soon the couple entered a spacious chamber. An antiquated wooden table was positioned in the room’s centre. Jeni gasped as she saw the table’s lavish wares - four exquisitely hand-crafted vessels and a slender golden urn. >That’s odd, Jeni thought. >Why are such magnificent articles set on this old table?

Jeni tried to hurry across to see inside the resplendent containers, but the One holding her hand asked, “Are you sure you want to see what is inside these vessels?

“Yes!” Jeni said rushing towards the table.

Peering inside she grimaced and abruptly leapt back in repulsion. “What is this bark and dirt inside these exquisite vessels?” she asked with disdain.

“This ancient chamber is where My most aromatic and holy anointing oil is made,” He replied.

“But,” she stammered, “I can’t smell anything pleasant. I don’t like it here, Lord. Please take me to another of Your chambers!”

“Jeni!” The way He spoke her name arrested her heart. “Watch and see how the anointing oil is made to be a fragrant offering, the one that is most pleasing to Me.”
Suddenly an angel appeared offering Him a crude grinding bowl. Taking the instrument for crushing, He removed a handful of the substance from the first vessel. The myrrh was hard and difficult to crush, but as it broke under His practised hand the chamber filled with its glorious fragrance.

“The sweetness of myrrh can only be experienced through crushing.” He told her.

Reaching into the second vessel He took a handful of cinnamon. It suffered the same fate, being crushed by His hand. Its aroma was sweet and inviting - a beauty beyond description.

Jeni was intrigued by the Master’s expertise in extracting the fragrance from the unlikely source.

Taking an equal portion of calamus from the third bowl, He added the substance to the other spices. “The more the bark of the calamus is beaten, the more fragrant it becomes.” His skilful hands crushed the bark into fine power, mixing it thoroughly with the other precious ingredients.

“The fourth essential element is cassia. It is harder to crush than the others and is bitter to taste. But its properties deeply purge so that healing can take place.” Adding the cassia to the crushing bowl, the Master Perfumer mixed them - combining them to make them as one.

The crushing process complete, He reached for the golden urn and poured thick, pure olive oil into the grounded spices. The chamber was transformed by a brilliant light and a magnificent fragrance was released as He worked the oil through the prepared spices.

The Master poured the fragrant anointing oil from the crushing bowl into another exquisite vessel that had been set apart for honourable service. It was ready for the King’s pleasure.

“Jeni,” He said turning to her, cupping her face in His scarred hands and beholding her with eyes of pure love, “Suffering according to the will of God releases My anointing in you in greater measures. It produces a holy, fragrant offering to Me and an alluring fragrance that draws others irresistibly to Me. Will you yield to Me, and through the crushing of your life, allow Me to make My fragrant anointing oil?”

Jeni’s eyes snapped open with the shriek of the alarm clock. Her heart pounded within her chest as the vivid dream’s power lingered. Light had been shed in the dark night of her forlorn soul. Sitting up in her disheveled blouse and her favorite blue jeans, Jeni prayed, “Lord, I understand now. I want You to work Your beauty in my broken life, even in my heart-breaking sorrows. Let my life rise up before You as a fragrant offering that You delight in.”

Exodus 30:22-30; 2 Corinthians 2:14 2; Ephesians 5:2. NIV.

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