Just imagine going to work one morning, and returning home the same day $100 million richer. What kind of job is that, you ask? Well, that’s the story of a Filipino fisherman who discovered an approximately two-foot-long pearl inside a giant clam. (https://www.forbes.com)
While that story is incredible, it is equally interesting to learn how a pearl is formed. “Some oysters produce a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over several years produces a pearl.” (https://answersingenesis.org)
Imagine producing pearls as a response to irritants.
Sometimes, life can be challenging. We face so many “irritants” in this broken world. Losing jobs, struggling to put food on the table, the death of a loved one, suffering because of a chronic disease, battling with anxiety and depression, and the list goes on.
Following Jesus does not mean we are trouble free.
Whatever we are facing – big or small – choose to produce pearls. Just as the oysters do it by producing nacre, we can create pearls out of our “irritants” with God on our side.
Creating pearls take time.
Don’t feel like you need to get your act together in one day. Grieving takes time. Dealing with anxiety can be a daily challenge. Feeling like a constant failure requires a change of mindset.
The process is often as important as the product.
Walking with God through the everyday problems is key to creating pearls out of irritants. In times of troubles, Jesus gives us a deep sense of peace and joy that can come only from Him.
What do you do with pearls?
The Filipino fisherman’s story did not end with him finding the pearl. He apparently took it home and tucked it under his bed as a good luck charm. It stayed there for another ten years.
Unfortunately, the fisherman’s home burnt down but thankfully, for the fisherman, that pearl survived. It was officially “verified at 26 inches in length, 12 inches in width and weighing nearly 75 pounds. It is valued at $100 million.”
I imagine that fisherman’s life was never the same again.
The pearls formed from your pain and struggles can make a difference.
It can make a difference to you.
It can change the lives of those around you.
Don’t leave them tucked under the bed for another ten years.
If you allow it, the pearls can be an amazing testimony of God’s goodness, love and grace in your life.
Stand up and declare – “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” (Psalm chapter 71, verses 15-18)
Mussita Ng is a follower of Jesus Christ from Wellington, New Zealand. Her previous articles may be viewed at https://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mussita-ng.html