Pearl Necklace

As I sit down to write this it is just turning midnight...4 hours from now and I’ll have been up 24 hours. I’m sleepy but not as tired as you’d think I’d be. I woke up this morning at 4am from a restless sleep. With nothing better to do I began to read. I didn’t have to work today so all I did was read and write, read and write...all day long...My friends are studying for finals right now and today I felt like I was studying as well. But studying the Bible? Huh? Rewind to a year ago and I would have told you, you were crazy to think such a thing. Haha well around 10 am I took a break and came across this Poem about a pearl. This poem has sat with me all day so I feel like I’m supposed to share it with you all so I can finally get some sleep!

The Pearl

In every oyster there lies the ability

to produce something rare.

Truth like a grain of sand

will produce

the pearl that is hidden there.

Young woman you are often mocked

and scorned.

And told you never should have

been born.

You want to run away, to hide your hurt.

Your heart is wounded, bleeding

and torn.

God makes not mistakes

every life is special,

every life is planned.

Seeds can sprout in sand.

Open yourselves up to the Spirit

of God

Grow in grace and maturity

Be what He wants you to be

Your beauty your strength lies deep

within you.

Young woman, young girl,

open yourselves up to God.

Allow Him to reveal your pearl.

 

Sylvia Hannah

So application time. I’ve had help with this one so I cannot take all of the credit but here is what I have to share. Ladies the pearl represents our virtue, our godly character. I personally love pearls, probably more than diamonds...future husband if you are reading this take note..haha I have several pearl necklaces...some are real and some are just imitations. I like them all but the imitation pearl necklaces can be frustrating because that have to be replaced every so often. The fake pearls are merely beads with a pearl appearance and overtime they become dull as the paint rubs off. Real pearls do not do this, they keep their flawless pearl luster for a very long time. One pearl necklace of mine was passed down to me from my Great-grandmother and it still looks great :) Back to the application now...

Lets say that we all have our own pearl necklace to string. The real pearls represent godly characteristics that make us virtuous. Characteristics in this category are ones like love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...etc. And the imitation pearls represent ungodly characteristics such as immorality, impurity, self-centeredness, jealousy, anger, envy...etc. Which pearls do you want on your necklace? The real ones right? Yeah me too!

However, if you’re like me your necklace probably doesn’t have just the real thing it’s probably a mixture of pearls and beads. I know I currently have more beads than I’d like to on my necklace. But it isn’t the end of the world, there is still hope. God is hope. With his help we can restring our necklaces one pearl at a time. We simply have to remove the unwanted bead, confess the sin that created the ungodly characteristic we want to be rid of and ask for forgiveness. God will forgive us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.

Once the bead is removed we can replace it with a pearl, a godly characteristic. However, virtue comes with time, we have to work hard for it but God will help. Take it one bead at a time. I am personally working on removing my self-centeredness bead. In the past I have been guilty of thinking of only myself. I am now working on putting others before me. For example, while my sister was here she wanted to dye Easter eggs. I personally have the attention span of a 2 year old when it comes to things like decorating a Christmas tree or dying eggs. I’ll hang one ornament or dye one egg and then I’m bored and done with it. My sister had left her money in the car while we were walking around downtown but I could tell she wanted to dye eggs. If it was up to me I would have seen it as sign we didn’t need to dye eggs and just save the money. However, thinking of her before myself, we walked to the store and I purchased the stuff to dye eggs for her. Thoughtful right?

Well don’t applaud me just yet. Haha because not even 10 minutes later we walked across the street to Starbucks and there I ordered a drink and didn’t even think to ask her if she wanted anything until after I handed the clerk my money. Not so thoughtful. I did tell her I’d buy her a drink if she wanted one but she politely declined so we left. Even though I offered to buy her a drink afterwards I still thought of myself first...you see it’s a struggle. I know this example seems very trivial but it’s about the baby steps. With baby steps and God’s guidance I’ll get there and will be able to replace that bead with a shiny pearl :) I want to be a lady of virtue so I’m restringing my pearl necklace one pearl at a time; are you?