The Irratation of the Inner Man

For the next couple days we are going to look at the parables. Too often people either only look on the surface of parables and don't go deep enough to find their true meaning; or they get confused so completely over look them. I'm guilty of both. I want to challenge you though to go deep with the parables..let the Holy Spirit guide you as you meditate on them and search for their meaning. Side not, I also like the parables because most of them start out with " The Kingdom of Heaven is Like..."

Today we will be looking at the parable of the pearl, its short but so much in it.
Matt 13 :45-46
⁴⁵"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

So what does this parable have to do with the journey into the heart of God, and knowing him more, and knowing our destiny in him, especially being that this parable is so short.

To know God to journey with God takes discipline, a discipline that so many of us don't have and don't want to gain because its hard...but its also very worth it.

So we see a short story of a man looking for pearls, notice he did not just find one..he found one of "great value". He than leaves and sells everything for this one pearl. What made this pearl so important, and what does this have to do with our journey.

Its all about how the pearl is formed. When sand gets into a oyster any other irritant gets into a oysters mouth it tries to protect itself by forming a sort of nacre or lack of a better word, spit, over this irritant. It keeps doing this until this irritant stops hurting. Than when it stops irritating then we have the pearl. This beautiful expensive rare rock. And it all starting from an irritation in the oyster.

Ok so stay with me, I'm going somewhere with this. We would love to think that God can just form us and make us into something beautiful with the wink of his eye, but that's not always the way it works. Our inner life and our devotion to him usually involves a lot of hardship. Be it trials, temptations, hurts, etc. We have two options when faced with this sort of thing, give up, or let God form in us something he can actually use, a habitation for the Holy Spirit.

Its not only outside trials though that form our inner man and our devotion to God. Its also irritating things like God showing us ourselves. God showing us that without him we are dark, we are full of ugliness. We do not like to see this, we do not like to see ourselves, in fact so many of us run from ourselves. Be it past hurts, us hurting others, wounds etc.

What will we do with this hurt. If we want to know God more, and know his heart more, and his plans for us , we have to stay with this hurt. We have to really allow God to deal with our dark hearts, with our sin, with our wounds. Too many people skip this step. If we stay with this process, than something beautiful is formed. Our inner life with God....something that is a treasure...something that is worth it all. Our inner life with God is priceless, we were made to commune with him. To know the deep things of Him. But beloved, it will never happen until we really deal with these "Irritations". Its worth it. The temporary pain for something beautiful and priceless. Let him do this, let him form the "pearl of great price" with in you. After all, its a great price because of the great cost.