This week my children and I spent some time learning how oysters make pearls and there is one thing that I just can not get over.
It all starts with a bit of irritation. A foreign object, a grain of sand or some other unwanted thing makes its way into the mouth of the oyster. Instead of complaining to her friends, Mrs. Oyster simply begins to cover the irritant with something good.
The irritation was not expected and is surely not pleasant but the oyster uses the unpleasant to create something beautiful.
Something valuable.
Something precious.
Something treasured.
I couldn’t help but compare this to my own life. So often I am just swimming through life and suddenly I am met with an unwanted irritation. Something gets stuck in my heart and I can’t get it out.
But then I feel God working on it. He begins to cover the pain with His grace. He works to restore. He works to heal. And day after day, layer by layer, He creates something beautiful.
Something valuable.
Something precious.
Something treasured.
So in a year or two or five or ten, someone will come along who needs a bit of beauty. And I’ll pull that pearl that God planted in my heart and put it in the hand of the hurting. I’ll tell about His love and how He turned my irritation into something to be treasured.
And remember, my friend, good things take time. Weeds grow overnight but pearls are formed over time.
