BEAUTY FROM PAIN!

As you may well know, a pearl comes from an oyster or clam and is a thing of beauty. But did you know how the pearl is formed?

When a parasite or a grain of sand enters the oyster shell it causes an irritation to the mollusc which produces a defence mechanism. What happens is the oyster secrets calcium carbonate and aragonite in a substance called nacre. Next, this substance surrounds the irritant in its shell and builds up layer after layer of nacre to protect itself from the painful intruder. This then, is how gradually the pearl is formed, the substance called nacre also gives it its lovely opalescent sheen and because of the carbon content in aragonite, it is also as hard as the shell of the oyster. There ends the lesson on the formation of pearls!

In the letter to the Romans Chapter 8, verse 18, we read, “The hard things we may be going through now are really nothing in comparison to the glory that will be revealed to us later”. For many people, even those we know and love, are going through really tough and difficult times. It is then that we need to be reminded of the assurance that Jesus is holding us and walking with us each day. And as Christians we have an overriding hope and knowledge that the One walking with us is the King of kings, the ultimate Healer of body, mind and spirit. The One who shines in the beauty of glory, as the verse says, will reveal Himself to us. Because He knows us each one as His precious child!