As a child one of my jobs was to clean the silver. I remember staring in wonder at the pearl handles on some of my grandma’s old knives – so beautiful and shiny. The lustrous, iridescent, colours always caught my eye. Who knew Granny kept rainbows in the kitchen!
But how were they made? Who created something so beautiful? They must have been extremely skilled. Only later did I learn that pearls are one of nature’s wonders, formed naturally in oyster shells…
Oysters are sea creatures protected by a bivalved shell (with 2 halves). As the mollusc grows, its shell also needs to increase in size, so the oyster takes minerals from its food to do this. It lays down sheets of flat, six-sided aragonite crystals interspersed with layers of conchiolin (a protein) secreted between. The result is nacre (or mother-of-pearl) lining the shell, its crystalline structure reflecting light in the unique way I saw on my grandma’s knives.
Now the interesting thing about pearls is they only form when an irritant, such as a wayward food particle, slips between the two shells rather than being ingested by the creature. The oyster then covers up the irritant to protect itself, eventually forming a pearl.
The natural protective process creates something of beauty.
God has transformed an irritant into a beautiful jewel.
And He can do that for you and me…
In life, difficult stuff happens, challenges come. But these ‘irritants’ are so often what God uses to help you grow and thrive. In my life only because I got depression was I forced to deal with my damaged emotions, and it’s led to significant healing. God can transform even the most awful situation into something precious.
When we believe in Jesus and entrust our lives to Him, He transforms us into priceless pearls and we’re accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven. And this is the most valuable thing of all…
Jesus shares the story of a merchant who recognises the value of a pearl and sells everything he has to buy this one item (Matt 13:45-46). It’s worth it to be with Christ in glory. Forever.