The Sting of Pearls

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in a far away land, a dear friend gave me a devotional by Charles Swindoll called, "Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life." I soaked in this book, loving the wisdom and truth that it contained. I always remember it fondly - so much of it has stayed with me through these many years. But just today I remembered one I'd forgotten.... Ar was watching a travel show and they mentioned oysters and pearls - and just like that - one of the devotionals from that book came flooding right back to me:

The Sting of Pearls⁽¹⁾

"....When it comes to irritations, I’ve found that it helps if I remember that I am not in charge of my day . . . God is. And while I’m sure He wants me to use my time wisely, He is more concerned with the development of my character and the cultivation of the qualities that make me Christlike within. One of His preferred methods of training is through adjustments to irritations.

A perfect illustration? The oyster and its pearl. An irritation occurs when the shell of the oyster is invaded by an alien substance—like a grain of sand. When that happens, all the resources within the tiny, sensitive oyster rush to the irritated spot and begin to release healing fluids that otherwise would have remained dormant. By and by the irritant is covered—by a pearl. Had there been no irritating interruption, there could have been no pearl.

No wonder our heavenly home has pearly gates to welcome the wounded and bruised who have responded correctly to the sting of irritations.

J. B. Phillips must have realized this as he paraphrased James 1:2-4: 'When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men [and women] of mature character.' "

Wounded and bruised - yes, indeedy.

Gee, I wonder at what point that oyster figured out that something beautiful was actually going on in there....

1) Excerpted from "Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life," by Charles R. Swindoll, Multnomah Press, 1983