Sunday at church an astoundingly wise young lady shared something that truly touched my heart & got my mind to thinking. She spoke about the formation of a pearl. Little did I know that such a beautiful, rare little gem is formed in a nasty oyster, and not only that but it's formation comes about through the rubbing & irritation of millions of grains of sand over time. Miss Abigail shared that information & then took the idea to a spiritual level. A tiny grain of sand seems insignificant & useless, but combine that one small object with millions of others like it & the potential is amazing.
Our lives are like that oyster shell,. rough, perhaps even nasty, but when we allow the Lord into our hearts such amazing potential resides within.Before life with Jesus, trials, troubles, & heartache make life seem hopeless...and in fact without Him it is, but with the grace of God upon us we must begin to look at the hardships we face with a new mindset. We live in a fallen world, among fallen people...bad things, annoying things, big obstacles, & minute bumps will always be a fact of life upon this earth whether we have faith or not, but with a heart set upon the Lord the conditions are prime for a miracle. Just as with the oyster shell, conditions must be just right for the potential of the formation of a pearl, and such is the case with the human existence. We are a mere flawed shell, but Christ within our lives provides the perfect setting for the creation of something precious...A Life Lived in Reflection of Jesus. The troubles & annoyances faced in life are just as those grains of sand...they irritate us & rub us raw. The combination of those troubles over time can create something magnificent...a priceless, beautiful person. How much easier is it to walk through those difficult times with the knowledge & the hope of such a precious end result? We must set our minds to view the rough times for just what they are, moments of refining beauty & of removing the flaws.
I must say that as a hopeless romantic, I notice the jewelry women wear. I can say that over the years I have noticed that you can tell a lot about a woman by the jewelry she wears. Have you ever noticed the kind of woman that wears pearls? She is cultured, refined, wealthy but not showy about it. She is a lady (by that I mean genteel), polite, traditional...much the way I imagine a Proverbs 31 woman would look like. A pearl is rare & beautifully formed, so will we be, Sisters of My Heart, if we allow life to refine us rather than rub us raw. We must be immersed in the culture of our faith, refined in a manner that allows us to reflect Jesus, wealthy in the riches of faith. we must be polite & sincere with our interactions with others, & traditional in the sense that we delight in the steadfast, never changing ways of our Father. We have the power decide how we allow these hardships to alter us, for the better or for the worse..we must take the reins of our minds & steer our thoughts, attitude, & actions in a positive direction.
One final tidbit...nearly every stone of great worth (Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Amethysts, & so on) are found within rock. Our God is not a God of Irony or Coincidence but a God of Purpose and a Plan. Rare, Beautiful, Priceless Jewels are Found upon The Rock, My Sisters!
I desire to be a pearl, molded & formed into a beautiful, priceless, & rare gift for my Father...I want that for you as well...
*John 15:1-17
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