“Consider it pure joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that YOU MAY BE PERFECT AND COMPLETE, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4).
We will need patience so God can mold us into His likeness. Look what He has done with the oyster. An oyster needs somewhere between three and six years to produce a perfect pearl. A strand of Tahitian pearls can cost from $500 to more than $25,000.The process begins with a small piece of sand or ANOTHER AGGRAVATION entering the oyster. The oyster then coats it with layers of nacre which, after years of this process, we come to know as a beautiful pearl. Like the sand in an oyster, God uses A LITTLE IRRITATION in our lives to create beauty. It is not in our best interest to pray for our loved ones to always be happy. For if they were always happy, how would they ever develop character and experience personal growth?
Going through trying times is not pleasant, and James does not tell us to pretend we are happy in the midst of it, but to consider it an opportunity for joy. God gives us a promise that we can “rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,” (Romans 5:3b-4). Through the hurt, pain and ugliness, we oftentimes experience, GOD CREATES BEAUTY IN US. Without the irritation, God cannot create in us a beautiful final product. “Soon you will be justified by faith, and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…God demonstrated His own love toward you, in that while you are still a sinner, Christ died for you.” (Rom. 5:1, 8)
In a few tons of oysters, you are likely to find only three or four that make a perfect pearl. When we accept the struggle or irritation in our lives, God uses it to make us into something beautiful. When we run from or ignore our pain it is hard for us to learn from it and see God’s hand in it.
EMBRACING THE ROUGH TIMES AND TRUSTING GOD WILL EVENTUALLY HELP US, TO BECOME ALL GOD DESIRES US TO BECOME FOR HIM.
-Bill Stockham