“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Matthew 13:35 (NIV)
What does a tantrum-throwing, snotty-nosed brat have to do with your personal relationship with Christ? Would it shock you if I told you God still speaks in parables? The parables of the Bible have two elements that apply to us today: a common occurrence/familiar experience and a deeper meaning pointing us heavenward. Just like the people in the Bible, we must tune our eye and ear to the deeper meaning.
You can experience and decipher parables in your own life every day. One merely needs a fresh perspective to realize that parables are unfolding all around us. This awareness enables people to see that the God of the Holy Bible is not an old, dusty religion. The Holy Spirit speaks in everyday situations, times of trouble, our jobs, parental roles, etc.
God has been sharing parables with me for many years now. That snotty-nosed brat was a parable Christ revealed to me at a time when I was being willfully disobedient toward Him. The tear-stained, stubborn, five-year-old dressed in snot and dirt had me completely frustrated. At the peak of my defeat I was stunned to see this child with what I call my spiritual eyes. The Holy Spirit revealed him as a mirror image of me because my spiritual defiance looked no different to Christ. God was even strategic in using someone else’s kid because the personalities of my own children were not this defiant.
Holy Spirit has spoken the loudest to me through my parental role. It may be because I intentionally ran after Him in this area. Day after day I would search Him out for His Fatherly role. I wanted to know what that meant for me and, in turn, what that meant for my children. I did not have a strong parental skill set; I had survival skills. I knew He held the information I needed in order to understand my position of authority, responsibility and service.
Searching the heart of God gave me daily parables that showed me He was the God of discipline for the purpose of correction and that there was a difference between that and abuse. His rules equated to safety and eliminated regret. He showed me that I would either be the stumbling block or the open arms that my children would use to decide if God was trustworthy. Through God’s desire for relationship with me, I discovered what it meant to no longer live under the law but under grace, because my sons did not respond to the rules but instead they responded to the relationship I had invested in.
Years ago, a sweet friend of mine liked to challenge me on seeing God in everything. While waiting to pick up our sons, she said, “Sherrie, as I was driving here today, I pulled up behind a school bus and a very large, heavy male student gave me a full pressed ham in the rear window. How do you see God in that?” In short, this young man had lowered his pants and pressed his large butt onto the glass filling every inch of the window on the back exit door. I thought about it for a second and said, “Yeah, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say you were staring Satan straight in the face!”
So I suppose being visually assaulted might not fit the model of a parable unless you want to file this under everything is permitted but not everything is beneficial! Thankfully there are other daily occurrences we can consider.
What does your job model for you when it comes to the things of heaven?
Are you a lawyer? Think about the judge as God, the prosecutor as Satan, and the defense lawyer as Christ.
What about a jeweler? Give thought to the process of using a raw material (our hearts) and chipping away the rough edges (our sin nature) to create a diamond (a heart for God)?
If you clean houses, you know the right chemical (corrective action) that will eliminate the filth and dirt (negative thoughts and actions). What does nature reverberate about the principles of heaven?
Consider the metamorphosis of the butterfly? Is there a transition we go through that has a spiritual value?
A new perspective on parables will build a personal relationship with Christ, as it allows you to experience His presence on a daily basis. Whether you are questioning the effectiveness of the Bible today or you want to deepen and/or build a personal relationship with Christ, seeing the fingerprints of God on an everyday basis will bring Him down out of the clouds and give you the opportunity to grow in new levels of spiritual intimacy.
God spoke verbally, Jesus spoke personally, and the Holy Spirit speaks intimately. While here on earth we may not (I say may not because who would dare put God in a box?) get to hear the audible voice of God or spend physical moments with Jesus, but Holy Spirit leads us intimately to experience the Living God of the Holy Bible. The Bible speaks in great depth of God’s hand in all that we know, therefore it would be safe to say that He is in the very pores of creation. We cannot escape the presence, the voice, or the leading of God.
The parable revelation that still brings an overflow of gratitude was when He showed me the power of writing a letter. Words upon paper convey a message that can last a lifetime. Every day and with every word, I was writing upon the hearts of my children. I would be sending them out into the world with a message written upon their hearts. This equipping caused me to quickly set it in my heart that I would write a love letter and, when people met my children, they would be able to immediately know, by the way my sons treated them, that my sons had been richly invested in and deeply loved.
My prayer for you, sweet and precious woman, is that you let God write His love and beauty on your heart, so that all who meet you will know that you have been richly invested in and deeply loved.
NOW LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
Self-reflection
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- Have you noticed parables in your everyday life? Share one.
- What revelation has God revealed to you that causes you to have an overflow of gratitude?
- Do you see God’s hand in your life? If so, where/how?
- Is there anything about nature that mimics a truth in the Bible?
- Has the Holy Spirit ever used something around you to show you something about yourself?
- Write down your job description and see if you can discover how things line up with the principles of heaven.
Use God’s word to take control over traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts, take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises found in His word.
Print, then cut and carry this Scripture with you and/or post it in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s word says to encourage you and to give you an example of His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Matthew 13:35 (NIV)
When you read God’s Word say to yourself: Christ told many parables that represented truths about the Kingdom of God, the value system of heaven as well as things about Himself. There is a lot to discover when I see through the parables of today.
Now LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
