Pearls of Wisdom

I love pearls! Call me old fashioned, but they are almost everyday wear for me. While they are beautiful, they are also used figuratively even in the Bible: pearls of wisdom, pearls before swine and the Pearl of great price are just a few. Is there a spiritual connection to draw from pearls beside their value?

 

Matthew 7:6 New American Standard Bible 1995

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Matthew 13:45-46 New American Standard Bible 1995

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

 

Pearls are formed when a grain of sand gets inside an oyster which irritates the delicate tissue. To protect itself, the oyster coats the sand with layer upon layer of shell. The longer the sand stays in the oyster the bigger it gets. (Apparently oysters are not capable of spitting things out.)

 

In the same way, the trials and difficulties we go through help us to grow in faith and godliness as we trust God and seek Him, submitting our lives to Him on a daily basis. Just like a pearl, those difficulties while painful at the time grow something beautiful within us, something of great value.

 

Galatians 6:8-10 New American Standard Bible 1995

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

 

Growing weary does not mean that we will lose if we every feel tired, worn out, or want to give up. Other translations use the phrase “faint not.” We are human and we will do nothing perfectly. God does not hold all those imperfections and times of falling against us. This refers to actually giving up, when we throw in the towel with no intention of picking it back up. It is looking at the big picture over the course of our life. If we do not give up, but keep trying in spite of set backs, we will reap the good and find the “pearls.”

 

What sand has gotten inside your shell? How can it grow a pearl of great worth and beauty in you? Ask God to help you in your trials, submit them to Him, and seek His will, wisdom and guidance.