ADVENT 16 (Pearl of Great Price): What Happened to Me?

We are now into our final full work before Christmas Day next Wednesday.  We have been exploring a variety of symbols relative to our Savior and His life and ministry.  Recapping the weekend, Saturday's symbol was the seed of God's Word. Jesus told a parable, that we find in Luke 8 about the growth of the seed of the word of God and how the ground, or the heart, in which it's planted can determine its fruitfulness.  Sunday, the symbol from a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 15, was the mustard seed.  The seed of the Scriptures is powerful, and it will grow as we plant it properly.

Today, we find another symbol that Jesus talked about in His parables: the pearl of great price. We can find in Matthew 13 that Jesus taught: “‘...the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.’”

We have to value the things of God.  If we do, we can find that can can come to know Him and grow in our walk with Him. But, if we don't value what God values, we may end up, as one of my guests last week, Samuel Blumenthal, alluded to, asking ourselves, "what happened to me?"

What. Happened. To. Me.  That is a pathetic cry of someone who has not valued the presence of God in his or her life.  But, it's also perhaps the opening of a portal to change.  Because if we don't recognize that we've missed the turnoff to the abundant life, we may never get back on the right road. 

I think that might have been the sentiment of a lady who wrote a first-person account for The Christian Heart.  I did not find a name of the writer, but the story is quite compelling. 

She starts out by saying this: "After his suicide, I was left to be a single mom. I was broken down and confused. Things only became worse after my daughter’s funeral, just 18 short months later." So, she encountered two tragedies in her life within the space of a year and a half.

Instead of seeking God, she turned to an ineffective counterfeit, writing: "The pain of life became too much to bear so I put my focus on creating my own fate through witchcraft. My obsession of the occult became consuming while I raised my two sons."

But, there was more of a decline in her life; the writer related: "I would’ve never seen going to jail and becoming a felon something of God’s grace, but it truly saved my life, and now I know, my soul."

Loss, witchcraft, prison.  What happened to me?  What happened to her?

Well, what happened is that she discovered she was not beyond the grace of God.  The writer notes:

I didn’t find God sitting in the pew of a church, but rather a jail cell at 6:00 am on a random Wednesday.

My sentencing was for eight years in prison. I had no crystals, spells or candles to help me. However, a sweet lady prayed for me. I held onto that prayer and found hope in the concept of God, but still did not fully understand why I felt the way I did.

When I was released and waiting on final sentencing, I went straight for my tarot cards. However, the moment I touched them, I knew that the life I had been living was behind me.

I was immediately convicted by the Holy Spirit. I prayed instead.

Things began to shift in the heavenlies.  She never touched the tarot cards again. Staring down an 8-year prison sentence, she writes that the sentence was "probated."  And, her mourning - and her mornings" have been changed; she says:

My mornings no longer look sad and hopeless, dying for answers of the world. Instead, I spend them reading devotionals, listening to worship music while taking my sons to school. I have now dedicated my life in every small aspect to share about God’s love, and testify what He did for me and delivered me from.

I am still a single mom, yet I no longer find my identity in the world, but in Christ alone.

So that's what happened. And, life for this single mom with two sons will never be the same. 

While you may not identify with every chapter in this lady's story, you might identify with some of it - the hopelessness, the desperation, maybe even the rejection of God and the consequences of seeking answers in the ways of the world or the enemy of our souls. 

Maybe you have reached, or are approaching, a point in which you say, "what happened to me?"  And, it is time for a change. Life is troublesome and tedious and you may have even considered whether or not it is worth living.  But, Jesus is offering the chance for change.  He gave everything He had for you, and He is inviting you to lay aside everything for Him.  If life is not particularly satisfying or joyful, Christ has come to be our giver of hope.  If you're wondering what has happened to you, where you went astray, why you are miserable, that can represent an opportunity to turn to Jesus, to ask Him to be the Lord and Savior of your life, and to experience what - no, who - so many are excited about at Christmas.

If your present feels like a prison and you are trapped within the vice grip of this world, Jesus has come to offer you freedom - your future can be full of life when Christ is your reason for living.  He is calling each of us to come closer to Him, to respond to His invitation to come with Him and to experience the life that He has promised and made possible.