Living Hard on the Outside—Soft on the Inside

"Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. 'Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise.'" — 1 Peter 2:24; Psalm 147:3; James 5:16; Jeremiah 17:14 (NASB)

Living Hard on the Outside—

Remaining Soft on the Inside

Did you know that the pearl is the only "jewel" not formed from a lifeless rock? Created inside a living organism, a precious, beautiful pearl forms when the oyster's tears repeatedly coat an irritant infiltrating the mollusk's inner core. How ironic that the name "mollusk" comes from a Latin word meaning "soft."

The hard knocks of life turned out to be far more painful and tougher than I expected. Even so, I don't want evil or sin or loneliness or the hassles of life to harden my heart. So how can God form pearls from the hurts embedded in the tender regions of my heart?

In Matthew 13:44–46, Jesus' parable uses the imagery of a pearl, formed within a non-kosher environment, to refer to a treasure hunter. This buyer and seller of valuable pearls gets rid of his entire inventory to obtain one costly über pearl.

How often do I treasure my string of hurts, clinging to them? When the fragile rope binding together life's bitter disappointments breaks, I turn to God to air my frustrations, hurts, stresses, worries, and confess bad attitudes and my hurtful actions. The miracle of his healing balm fills the gaps in my heart left by cavernous wounds.

Just as the oyster's legacy is a pearl, I want the pearls strung on my spiritual necklace to reflect the luster and beauty of the treasure hidden in my heart—God's Word.

Thank you, Elohim, for creating me and pouring out your mercy, grace and healing on my life. How could I live without the precious treasure of your Word? Jehovah-Rapha, my healer, restores the broken places of my heart.