There once was an oyster,
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand,
Had goten into his shell.

It was only a grain,
But it gave him great pain.
For oysters have feelings,
Although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate,
The harsh workings of fate,
That had brought him,
To such a deplorable state?

Or curse the government,
And cry for election,
Claim that the sea should,
Have given him protection?

No, he said to himself
“Since I cannot remove it,
As it lays in my shell,
I shall try to improve it.”

Now the years have rolled around,
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate
Destiny stew.

And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl
All richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral,
For isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do
With a morsel of sand?

What couldn’t we do
If we’d only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin.

~Author Unknown~

Pearls are a product of pain. When a grain of sand pierces the shell of an oyster, all the otherwise dormant resources within the tiny oyster respond to the foreign irritant by caring for that sensitive spot. Over time, the sand particle is covered by healing fluids, and the wound becomes a pearl.

That’s true for you, too. When hardships invade your life, allow God’s Spirit to shape your response. Don’t be bitter. Don’t rush ahead of His plan. Rest in Him. Allow Him time to turn that irritation into an opportunity for your growth - and watch a beautiful pearl emerge from your set of circumstances.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” - James 1:2-4 (TM.)

“When you flee temptation, be sure you don’t leave a forwarding address.”