Pearls of Life

Pearls of Life

The word pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, and admirable.  That definition reminds me of what the true pearls of life are about. 
I like to think myself rare, fine and admirable.  But these are born of experience and experience comes by the way of learning.  We seldom like to think our life is made up of work.  It is one of the “four letter words” that is a part of life.  And something rare and fine like a pearl comes from learning and learning from our life’s endeavors; our work.

I retired from a secular career to find that my pearl of learning wasn’t proficiency as much as it was diligence.  Joining the ranks of the unemployed for a short time was not to my liking.  The career of service in Ministry has truly begun and learning about work has begun.

I realize success is a measure that is seen through others eyes.  We all judge success differently.  That’s a pearl!  The reality is what others call success for us and what we know as success, are often different. 

Are we being all we can be and more importantly is God pleased with our work?  Can we honestly say we know that through the trust we have in our Creator we have the gift of joy in being a Christian?

If we can learn to stop being busy doing what we believe needs to be done to accomplish God’s work and simply be Christian, the work gets done.  As we exhaust ourselves trying, God only asks us to be filled with the grace of  Jesus’ acceptance. 

Have you found a place in your reading that says “do what you think God expects of you?”  If we are to be Christ-filled, we must make room for Jesus to live through us.  That can only be done if we open our hearts and take time for that daily, continual relationship with the one we follow.

Remember the Martha and Mary story and the one who rested at Jesus’ feet.  She was the one who learned the most and served the best that day.  Jesus loves us but do you ever wonder if Jesus “likes” you?  Sometimes I wonder if Jesus really likes me as I busily go about the day doing.  Yet, stopping to kneel at the feet of Jesus might be all Jesus is asking of me that day.

We can be filled with the realization of our success without exhausting ourselves.  Spiritual fulfillment comes in resting in Christ as we continue to work.  That’s a pearl. 

What if all these many tasks we set for ourselves are also pearls, you say?  What if we polish and shine those wonderful gems only to find that God doesn’t really care much for shiny objects?  What then?  Was our desire for success opposed to God’s will for us?  That’s a pearl!

Some days my Ministry seems like an oyster, all slippery and a mess but then some days it seems like a pearl, perfected and a beautiful gem.  It is in those times resting at the feet of Christ that success comes. 

At times I waited for the word and listened for the “still small voice” that brought me through the trial of the day.  It was then I truly learned what wonderful “pearls” we are to Christ.  We are God’s pearls.  That’s our value; that’s our true worth; our success.  Now, that’s a pearl!!