I had a better day today.  The dressing change went well which helps my emotional state considerably.  I feel like this thing might actually heal after all!  A better day…

I was looking through some of my previous writings and came across one about Pearls of Great Cost. (Some of you may remember it) I guess I am in the process of getting more pearls!  I thought I would share it with you…it is quite a few years old but still relevant to my life as you will see. 

Have you ever felt like life is a series of traumas and disappointments?  Many people experience pain and heartache.  It is part of life.  Some pain goes away easily and some lingers for long periods of time, and just when we think we are over it something happens and rips the scabs right off of old wounds. Do not loose heart!  Instead of self-pity or blaming those around you take a moment and consider there may be a silver lining to the clouds. 

There is a difference in love and compassion.  The difference is the pain.  God has compassion.  He loves so much it hurts.  In reality, the pain you experience is a lot like the pain in the Father’s heart.  He knows each pain you feel because he feels it too.  The pain is like a pearl…made beautiful through adversity. 

Compassion is what moves him to action.  He is near to the brokenhearted.  So if you’ve been broken and wounded count it all joy!  You have more of the Father’s heart than many.  You carry it with you in your pearls.  Some have long strands of pearls. Some have only a few, but they are valuable because of their great cost.  They cost everything.  The great thing is that as you gather God’s truths through your pain you are being formed in his image.   

I was reading Matt 13:45 where it says the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great price he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. As I studied this passage I saw it from a different perspective.  I have always thought that I was the merchant and the pearl was salvation. But what if God is the merchant…and you are his pearl of great price?  He saw you being formed through life’s hardships and knew you were of great value, so much so that he gave all he had…the greatest cost of all to purchase a pearl of such value.  So do not dismiss your hardships without seeing your pain through his eyes and getting in touch with his heart.

I have always struggled with the phrase “my sin held him on the cross.”  But if you look at it from the Father’s perspective it becomes easier.  When sin came into the world so did pain and hardship.  Adam and Eve chose it and because of that had to walk in it.  Life became a thing of suffering and pain, far from what was originally intended.  They were separated from God and God was separated from them.  From a distance he watched.  It so grieved his heart to see the pain and yet, because of his perfection, to get close meant certain death for the children he so loved.  Imagine seeing your own children in so much pain and hardship while knowing if you reached out your hand to stop the pain…your children would die.  Imagine the wrestling in his heart and the grief of man’s sin-choice.  His compassion moved him to do something.  He had to be near and to help. So he became a man…Jesus.  And at the cross took all the suffering and pain on himself; the ultimate suffering unto death.  And in and through that pearl of great price we have the ability to be with him once again; to be close with no separation.  It was the suffering and pain, the result of our sin, which held him there.  He couldn’t stand to watch it.  In his compassion, he had to move to do something to alleviate our pain.  So when you suffer hardship, loss and grief know that he sees and has already made provision.  It was that very pain he took upon himself so you could be free.  He is our pearl of great price and we are his.  He willingly paid it all because he saw such value in you.  He couldn’t stand to see you hurting anymore.  And if we look through that pearl of great price, we see his love and compassion for us.