Pearls

"For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,"  2 Corinthians 4:17

In our humanity, we can see little good in suffering. That's why we go to such great lengths to avoid it. That's understandable, but the Father would have us learn and grow through that which we suffer. He does not put it upon us, but He will lead us into it. If we will trust Him, press on with Him, He will bring forth what He promises in the above Scripture, " a weight of glory far beyond all comparison." His Word says He will bring us forth as gold, or for the purposes of this writing, pearls. Pearls of great price.

A pear is formed in an oyster when a grain of sand embeds itself in the soft flesh of the oyster. This bring about an acute irritation to that flesh. In response, it begins to wrap that granule in a combination of salvia and calcium. Eventually, in a process that can take as much as three years, a pearl is produced. That which began as pain produces a pearl of great and lasting beauty. He will do the same in us with even our deepest sufferings and sorrow. There is a classic work titled, "Don't Waste Your Sorrows," which I read in a time of great sorrow and suffering in my life. I determined I would not waste mine. I can only hope that pearls have been produced in my life. He, and others will have to determine that.

Sheila Walsh tells the story of a little girl with a severe reading disability. One of the ways her mother sought to encourage was to tell her how pearls were formed, and that God was working through her hardship and pain to produce them in her life. Later on, the mother went past her daughter's room as she tried to come to grips with a reading assignment. She could hear her daughter's expressions of frustration, and with a mother's heart, sought to comfort her. She was taken back by the young girl's reply; "It's OK mom. I'm making pearls." The little girl, even at her age, was grasping the truth of 2 Corinthians 4:17. God was bringing her forth as gold, and for His glory and her good. In our suffering, He enters into it with us, but in it, He seeks to bring us forth as His pearls. Pearls that display His glory to an onlooking church and world. Yet the pearls will not come forth unless we yield ourselves to His process. The life that seeks to give Him glory will also give Him, and a world in desperate need of them, pearls. Pearls that give Him glory and hope to the hopeless and despairing who are walking through their own sufferings and sorrows. 

None of us will ever look for suffering, and He doesn't expect that we should, but we will suffer. Jesus said that we would, that suffering would be a part of life. It was a central feature of His life. He called Himself "the Man of Sorrows." His ultimate suffering was upon the cross, but it was also His ultimate means of glorifying His Father through His death and resurrection. His sacrifice brought forth the ultimate pearl of great price. It still does to this day. Will ours?

Our own trials, hardships, and tears will either bring forth bitterness, anger, and other destructive effects to our spiritual and emotional lives, or......they will bring forth pearls. As the mother was with her daughter in her own pain, so is He with us. As we walk even through the valley of the shadow of death, can we trust Him, believe Him, press on in and with Him, knowing that as we do, we proclaim His glory and......we produce His pearls. Will we be His pearls? What have your hard places produced in you? What are they producing now?

Blessings,

Pastor O