Mother of Pearl

The hardship of today will prove to be a blessing tomorrow.

     Living in bodies of water all over the world, both in rivers, lakes, and oceans, there are oysters and clams with gleaming shells. These mollusks are related distantly to the snails in your garden, as well as the sea snails that live in conch and cowrie shells. However, these shells are special -- their hard, inner layer gleams like solidified rainbows. This layer of calcium is called mother of pearl, which grows and thickens as the oyster or clam grows.

     Pearls are formed similarly to their shells. When a grain of sand is seeded in the clam's mouth, whether on accident or on purpose, it irritates the clam's tongue. The little mollusk, over the years, continues being irked by the sand stuck in its mouth, and continues secreting the calcium which builds the shells. This secretion also sticks to the speck, which builds up over time into a beautiful, gleaming pearl. If you cut a pearl perfectly in half, you'd dry that the grain of sand is still there at the center.

     Over the course of our lives, we go through many hardships and sufferings, some too horrible to name. But, just like the creation of these natural treasures illustrates, discomfort is the mother of spiritual treasures. Those who do not believe in God claim that if He were really a good God, He would not allow us to suffer. But, ever since sin entered the world (by our own decision), we have always been living in a world of darkness and pain. One day, soon, He will return in a great blaze of glory and create a new Heaven and a new earth, and there will never again be pain -- but until then, we live in a world of sin, and sin leads to suffering. 

     But God knows what He is doing, allowing us to hurt in this time. He is all-knowing and wise, and our hardest times are not out of His control; in fact, He planned those events.

     "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

Jeremiah 29:11-14

     This passage is taken out of context a lot. Yahweh does not mean, by saying this, that we will live happy, perfect lives once we become a Christian. Actually, it's almost always the opposite. God uses our trauma, though, to build us into a better person, to make us stronger, to create in our hearts the fire of a mighty spiritual warrior.

     "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

     "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Romans 5:1-5

    It is God who carefully orchestrates our lives to best build us up; He knows how each event will affect us and, in time, make us wiser. Right now, it may feel like nothing will ever be okay again, but one day, these nights of crying yourself to sleep will feel like they were a very long time ago. The memories of friends and loved ones that you've lost will always be with you, and the pain will seem endless, but through God, you can get through anything. He will not leave or forsake you -- it is only a matter of seeking Him out and staying with Him, and as long as you continue to choose Him first, He will be with you in the fire.

     "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations."

Isaiah 61

     Nothing that mortal men do to you will separate you from God's love and protection, be it life or death, rulers or authorities, powers or dominions (Romans 8:38-39). So don't dwell on the fear of the world or wallow in your sorrow.

     "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:19-21