Pearl necklaces and ruby bracelets—why bother? None of this is even a down payment on Wisdom! Pile gold and diamonds as high as you will, they can’t hold a candle to Wisdom.
Job 28:18 (MSG)
Pain that Produces Pearls
Have you ever paused to think how natural pearls are made? Where do they come from? Pearls come from a living sea-creature that God created called an oyster. A foreign particle like a tiny grain of sand gets into the oyster and it becomes very painful. It hurts, it’s uncomfortable because it irritates the soft tissue of the oyster and it’s unable to flush away the sand particle out of it’s shell and remains stuck there. Then a biological process begins to happen within the oyster, and over time that painful irritant produces a pearl. Who would have thought? Out of the rough, jagged, broken, coarse-looking oyster shell on the outside—and the suffering, painful, soft tissue on the inside—a beautiful, radiant, glistening pearl is produced. Wow!In a similar way, life can be painful. It can irritate. It can be very uncomfortable. It can be filled with questions of why or how. It can hurt. It can cause jagged and broken edges in our lives. Left unresolved, hurt and pain can reside deep within our heart for months and even years. However, pain, hurt and irritations in our lives can actually produce pearls if we’ll allow God to work in our lives the way He desires to. Sometimes what pains us, hurts us, and irritates us turns into a glistening pearl. God can take your greatest mess and turn it into your greatest message. Listen closely: God is more interested in doing something IN you, in order to do something THROUGH you. Is there a lesson that God is teaching you? How is God growing you, sifting you and developing you in the midst of your trial, adversity, hurt and pain?Are you a pearl seeker or a wisdom seeker? What are you chasing after in your life? Are you chasing wealth, fame, worldly success, status, position, title, power? Or are you chasing after wisdom, joy, contentment and spiritual influence that only comes in a ‘right relationship’ with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. I remind and encourage you, not to fight the pain of adversity, discomfort, or irritating setbacks that God allows in your life. Rather, endure them, knowing that God is on His throne and in the process of developing you, growing you, refining you and shaping you into a priceless pearl that will look more and more like His Son, Jesus.Lock eyes with Jesus today and walk towards Him.Love God! Love People! Live Sent!Be Worth Being,KevinSUBSCRIBE TO "OVER THE HUMP" DEVOTIONALKevin Burrell has worked in professional baseball as both a player and MLB scout for the past 42 years, and currently serves as an area scouting supervisor. Kevin was drafted in the 1st round of the 1981 free agent amateur draft (25th selection overall), and played ten years of professional baseball with four different organizations. He and his wife, Valerie, live in Sharpsburg, Ga.
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