irritant or pearl?
Matthew 6:6
"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."
I studied this in July 2003.
I need a review today.
What causes pearls?
An irritant.
"Natural pearls are nearly 100% calcium carbonate and conchiolin. It is thought that natural pearls form under a set of accidental conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite enters a bivalve mollusk, and settles inside the shell. The mollusk, being irritated by the intruder, forms a pearl sac of external mantle tissue cells and secretes the calcium carbonate and conchiolin to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many times, thus producing a pearl." Wikipedia
The irritant enters the mollusk-
the mollusk never asks for the irritant.
Natural pearls are rare.
Most pearls today are "Cultured"-
meaning men insert the irritant into the mollusk and the process begins.
We all have irritants in our lives-the potential for pearls.
Rarely are these irritants "natural".
Usually a person is involved.
What makes the difference in whether those irritants become valuable pearls or remain an irritant?
I think our reaction to the irritant is key.
How often am I guilty of throwing 'the irritant' out in front of other's rather than covering it with layers of prayer and allowing God to make it into something beautiful? If I do begin covering an irritant with prayer, do I get impatient and interfere before He is done working? The more I cover "it" in prayer and allow Him to cover those prayers with His love, His light, His power and His healing the more the irritant becomes something beautiful.
"The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster." Wikipedia
Pearls are things of beauty-
but they must have proper care.
"Because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals of calcium carbonate react with the acetic acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate and carbon dioxide." Wikipedia
Beware of the swine, the vinegar people in your life.
Those who will wallow with you in the mud of your misery over the irritant and then turn on you and tear you to pieces for not getting rid of the irritant.
Turning an irritant into a pearl takes time.
Seek those who will encourage you to be patient, those who will hold you accountable to do your part in the pearl making process, who challenge you to pray and wait and trust as God works in His way, in His time to make something beautiful. When He is done, there will be beauty where once there was an irritant.
"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."
I studied this in July 2003.
I need a review today.
What causes pearls?
An irritant.
"Natural pearls are nearly 100% calcium carbonate and conchiolin. It is thought that natural pearls form under a set of accidental conditions when a microscopic intruder or parasite enters a bivalve mollusk, and settles inside the shell. The mollusk, being irritated by the intruder, forms a pearl sac of external mantle tissue cells and secretes the calcium carbonate and conchiolin to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated many times, thus producing a pearl." Wikipedia
The irritant enters the mollusk-
the mollusk never asks for the irritant.
Natural pearls are rare.
Most pearls today are "Cultured"-
meaning men insert the irritant into the mollusk and the process begins.
We all have irritants in our lives-the potential for pearls.
Rarely are these irritants "natural".
Usually a person is involved.
What makes the difference in whether those irritants become valuable pearls or remain an irritant?
I think our reaction to the irritant is key.
How often am I guilty of throwing 'the irritant' out in front of other's rather than covering it with layers of prayer and allowing God to make it into something beautiful? If I do begin covering an irritant with prayer, do I get impatient and interfere before He is done working? The more I cover "it" in prayer and allow Him to cover those prayers with His love, His light, His power and His healing the more the irritant becomes something beautiful.
"The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on the surface. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster." Wikipedia
Pearls are things of beauty-
but they must have proper care.
"Because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals of calcium carbonate react with the acetic acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate and carbon dioxide." Wikipedia
Beware of the swine, the vinegar people in your life.
Those who will wallow with you in the mud of your misery over the irritant and then turn on you and tear you to pieces for not getting rid of the irritant.
Turning an irritant into a pearl takes time.
Seek those who will encourage you to be patient, those who will hold you accountable to do your part in the pearl making process, who challenge you to pray and wait and trust as God works in His way, in His time to make something beautiful. When He is done, there will be beauty where once there was an irritant.
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