AMBER, GOD’S SUPRISE!!!

‘Amber’ photo by  Oxfordian Kissuth CC BY-SA 3.0
Have you ever heard of amber?  I hadn’t.  (See photo above).  Isn’t it beautiful?
Amber is fossilized resin from ancient trees that are 25 to 130 million years old!!!
The largest deposits of amber are found in the Baltic Region, countries surrounding the Baltic Sea.  They estimate that over 150 tons were produced by ancient, now extinct forests at the edge of the sea.  However, ‘Despite decades of study, there is no definite conclusion about the botanical source of the vast deposits of Baltic amber.’ J. Paul Getty Museum.
Consider this, one tree produces only 5-7 pounds of resin per year!  How many trees would it take to produce 150 tons of amber?
Resin is that sticky substance you get all over your hands if you are or were a tree climber or Christmas tree handler.  It is part of the trees immune system.

It takes special conditions for resin to fossilize and become the gem you see in the photo.  The trees had to fall into the water and be carried by rivers and tides to delta coastal regions where they were buried over time in sedimentary deposits.  Buried under these deposits they are protected from exposure to sunlight, rain, microorganisms, and extreme temperatures which tend to disintegrate the resin.  In other words, it takes millions of years and a proper burial to produce amber!

Because resin is a sticky substance, bugs and critters have been trapped in it and become encased and visible in the clear amber.  Remember the movie, Jurassic Park where fictional scientist’s re-animate dinosaurs from DNA trapped in amber?  NOT!  Apparently, DNA has a shelf life of 500 years.  Oh, well.

Have you ever heard of the ‘Amber Room’?  It was considered the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’!  It was a gift presented to Russia’s Peter the Great in 1716.  It was made from six tons of amber.  Unfortunately, it was stolen and ultimately destroyed by the Nazis in October 1941. What you see in the photo below is a replica, a near-perfect recreation of the original Amber Room, recreated by the Soviet Government in 1979 at the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. The artists used the exact 350 shades of amber from the original panels ornately worked by craftsmen. It was valued at $500 million USD in 2016.                                                  

    ‘Amber Room’ photo by Sergey A. Demidov CC BY 4.0.
Amber is a great metaphor for us!  It takes special conditions in our lives for us to become the gem God intended us to be.  Thank God it doesn’t take millions of years.

God said, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’  Jeremiah 29:11.
Follow His plan! 
First, be reconciled to God which restores a broken relationship with Him!
‘Reconciliation with God is the restoration of a broken relationship between humanity and God, transforming a state of estrangement caused by sin into a state of peace, friendship, and harmony. Initiated by God through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, it allows believers to be forgiven, justified, and brought into an intimate, loving relationship with Him.’  AI Overview.
Once you are reconciled to God, you can be ‘confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’  Philippians 1:6.
And you can count it PURE JOY ‘whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’  James 1:2-4.

AND YOU WILL SHINE LIKE AMBER, GOD’S SPECIAL SURPRISE!!!