John and I stopped at a little jewelry shop in Hawaii to look
around. There, in a bowl were oysters
with a sign that said “Pick a Pearl”. I was
going to get some pearl earrings so we thought what better way to do it than to
just pick your own. The store attendant handed
me some tongs and I began rummaging through the bowl of water and oysters. I was looking for a perfect oyster…I didn’t
want one of those slimy, yucky ones! She
looked at me and said, “The uglier and hairier the oyster the more beautiful
the pearl is inside.”
I thought about that in
comparison to our walk with the Lord.
When we are sinners, we have so much ugly: ugly in our hearts, our lives, our
minds. Jesus doesn’t just call the
people who haven’t gotten too far out in sin…he calls us all. In many circumstances, the uglier the person’s
life is, the more beautiful He can make it.
I know the sweetest
woman who will tell you herself about her ugly life. How she tried many different things to
complete her life. She will also tell
you that she rarely didn’t have a drink in her hand. She used language that wasn’t pretty and had
a temper that would rise up and she would lash out at people. But the Lord called her. He saw her.
He saw all of those things in her life, but most importantly, He looked
past it all and saw something He could work with. Something He could make beautiful. A person that He could let His love shine
through. A person that He could use to
win souls. A person that He could use to
be a Sunday school teacher. A person
that He could use to demonstrate a patience that is comparable to Job’s. A person that He could use to be a beacon of
hope and an inspiration. A person that
He saw beautiful, not only outwardly, but beyond all of the ugly, messy things
in her life, He saw an infinite beauty.
John and I both chose
the ugliest and hairiest oyster we saw, and in return opened up two beautiful pearls. I had it set in a pendent and each time I
wear it, I’m reminded that He can make something so beautiful out of something
so ugly, if we only let Him work!
Thank you, Lord for
rummaging through the slimy, yucky, ugly life I had and turning it into
something beautiful that You can use!
“If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 KJV
