Many people
look at the pearl and think that the pearl is one of the most beautiful jewels
of all. I am sure that on Sunday morning, you get dressed, get ready to put on
your accessories and think, “What will REALLY make this outfit pop?” You say,
“Ah, yes, my pearls!” Yes, they are a precious stones and they can dress up
just about anything in your closet. Pair a short strand of pearls with a
business suit, or wrap a long strand of pearls around your wrist. Wear stud
pearl earrings with your work attire. Pearls create an elegant and womanly look
when paired with an evening gown. Opt for colorful, large and long pieces when
wearing a solid-color dress, or go for small pearls when wearing elaborately
embellished attire. In the evening, wear necklaces, earrings and bracelets in
combination. With everyday attire, have a little fun with your pearl jewelry.
If you pair a classy top with jeans, add pearls to create a trendy and
fashionable look. Choose chunky pearls, colored pearls or layer different
strands of pearls. Pearls are the quintessential.
But I am
sure that you are not reading this to get fashion tips; therefore, I am
ready to give you some Jesus tips. How many of you look at your string of
pearls, before putting them on, and stand there thinking about the process that
this precious jewel has gone through to set off your outfit? Some of us don’t
REALLY know or understand how a pearl is formed, in the first place. All we
know is that pearls come from an oyster and that’s about it. I mean, after all,
we don’t really NEED to know how pearls are formed to enjoy wearing them, now
do we? No, we don’t… but in order to TRULY appreciate them, we need to know the
process that they’ve gone through.
Rather than
forming in the ground like most gems, a natural pearl begins when a foreign
substance slips into the oyster between the mantle, a fold of skin which
protects the oyster’s organs, and the shell. This foreign substance irritates
the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. The oyster's
natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The mantle
covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre that is used to create the
shell. The longer a pearl stays in the shell, the more nacre or protective
coating, forms and the larger the pearl.
Most pearls
that we see in jewelry stores are nicely rounded objects, not all pearls turn
out so round. Some pearls form in an uneven shape- these are called baroque
pearls. Pearls, as you've probably noticed, come in a variety of colors,
including white, black, gray, red, blue and green. Most pearls can be found all
over the world, but black pearls are indigenous to the South Pacific.
The two most
common types of pearls are cultured and natural. Natural pearls are ones that
occur when a small impurity, like a grain of sand, enters the shell of a
mollusk, naturally. Cultured pearls are formed in exactly the same way as
natural pearls, but the initial impurity is inserted into the shell to
start the pearl growth.
In our
lives, there are occasions in which problems are going to arise. John 16:33 says: “I
have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you
will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” As people,
that’s the last thing that we want…PROBLEMS! They just cause so many…well…PROBLEMS!
There is just no way around it! We will have trouble in this life, but I am
here to share with you today how we can turn our problems into pearls.
As I have
explained, pearls are formed from foreign substances that enter into the
oyster. How many of you have had foreign substances enter into your life? We
all have! They are as unwelcome to us as they are to this oyster, because they
irritate us, just like they irritate the oyster. Now, the oyster’s natural
defense is to cover it up with layers of nacre to protect itself. We humans
react the same way. When problems come into our lives, our first instinct is to
protect ourselves. When facing trials in our lives, the issue is not the
irritant, but what we decide to cover the irritant with? Do you cover your
irritant with alcohol, drugs, or sex referred to in 1 John 2:16? Or do you
cover it up with the salve of Jesus as referred to in Ezekiel 16:8? A
protection of anything other than Jesus, will never produce a pearl of high
quality (Matthew 6:25-34). Remember, the longer the irritant stays in the
oyster, the more nacre is produced to cover it, the larger the pearl will
become. Here I stand to encourage you to not stress about how long trouble
lasts. Just continue to cover the trouble with Jesus, because the longer the
problem stays in your life and the more Jesus you cover it with, the bigger the
pearl you will produce in the end.
When we
think of pearls, we think of a perfectly round jewel, but not all pearls are
perfectly round. A number of pearls are unevenly shaped and of different colors.
The shape of the foreign substance that has entered the shell determines the
shape of the pearl, and the location of the body of water from which the oyster
was taken, governs the color. So for instance, the foreign substance of my mother
being on hospice for about a month now is producing a pearl of a different
shape than the foreign substance that has entered your life. The foreign
substance that has entered my life here in Maryland has produced pearls of a
different color than the foreign substance that has entered your life in
Alabama or Georgia. But as Christians, after going through such trials, we can
string our pearls together to create a piece, exemplifying God’s glory!
We
previously discussed the two different types of pearls, the natural pearl and
the cultured pearl. The natural pearl takes place when foreign substances, naturally, enter the shell of the oyster, but a cultured pearl takes place when
someone inserts the foreign substance into the oyster. We, too, can
develop natural pearls and cultured pearls. In our lives, there are natural
troubles that occur such as death, natural disasters, or sickness; on the other
hand, there are cultured problems in which people insert into our lives like a
child deciding that she no longer wants to be a mother and she drops all five
of her kids at your door, an abusive husband, or a person lying and scheming to
make you lose your job in order that they can have your position. 2 Timothy
3:1-5 says, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times
of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,
arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid
such people.” No matter if our lives have been plagued with natural troubles or
cultured troubles, we can still develop pearls by covering the problem with
Jesus!
Yes, no matter your problems, you can cover it with Jesus! (Romans 8:31)
Sickness…cover
it with Jesus
Death…cover
it with Jesus
Loss of
work…cover it with Jesus
Wayward
child…cover it with Jesus
Divorce…cover
it with Jesus
Bills are
due…cover it with Jesus
Church
members gone astray…cover it with Jesus
Church in
turmoil…cover it with Jesus
Spirit
low…cover it with Jesus
Depression…cover
it with Jesus
Problems on
the job…cover it with Jesus
Evil in our
world…cover it with Jesus
Sin…cover it
with Jesus
And if we
continue to cover our problems with Jesus, then our problems will become our
PEARLS!
