A Grain of Sand becomes a Beautiful Pearl
Turning irritants into Beautiful Pearls

For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory… 2 Corinthians 4:17

Have you ever seen what a clam can do with a grain of sand? It really is quite amazing. As a clam sits quite content at the bottom of the ocean, it moves around. You might ask…

How does a clam move? It sticks out its tongue like a foot and uses this to pull itself along. It often leaves a trail behind that looks like a snails trail.

This movement allows sand to seep between the mantle and the shell.

When a grain of sand gets into the shell it will secrete a substance called nacre or mother of pearl. Nacre coats the sand over and over… layer after layer and over time it develops into a pearl. This is very similar to getting a splinter. The natural reaction is to cover it up to protect itself. The nacre is secreted to cover the irritant.

The Bible says that our troubles… irritants or grains of sand produces in us eternal glory.

What does that mean?

Do you ever get irritated? Is there any area in your life that you are frustrated and you are just bothered? Do you have a person in your life that irritates you?

I have a secret I want to tell you. Just like the clam, we can clam up.

When does a clam—clam up? When it is defensive! It will lock up tight and the muscles inside keep it tight. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out. This means even good things like food that bring life.

Sometimes the irritation is inside us like a grain of sand. It is rubbing us and making us hurt and sometimes it can make you raw.

The clam takes the irritant and covers it with nacre. We can take our irritants to God and ask Him to cover them. Each time we take it to Him. He will cover this irritant in us and use it to make the irritant turn into a beautiful pearl inside our heart.

Don’t answer this out loud, “Who in your life irritates you?” Maybe it’s your mom when she says go clean your room. Maybe it’s your teacher when she says, you have to do school work now and not play. Maybe it’s your spouse or your boss. Maybe it’s your friends…

When we are irritated, we can do one of two things: clam up and let nothing go in or out of us. This is not good. It builds anger, bitterness and does not allow for us to feel better. OR we can take it to God and say, “GOD, help! I am irritated. Show me how to be loving, gentle and kind even when I am irritated. Like, right now!” Okay… maybe we shouldn’t be bossy to God. We should ask Him politely. He is polite to us!

God will answer our prayer and begin the process of taking the grain of sand and turning it into beauty. He will give us an obedient heart even when we are irritated. We will find we can respond kindly instead of with irritation or meanness.

Amazingly, a grain of sand can become iridescent, shiny, and beautiful. The pearl has a beautiful luster and color--white, silvery, pink, salmon, red, copper, brown, lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, or yellow--and comes in all kinds of shapes. It is sold for jewelry, covering on instruments like guitars, ceramic tiles, kitchen sinks and even shirt buttons.

What are you going to do with your grain of sand? Will you allow GOD to cover it and turn it into something beautiful or will you let it stay inside you and keep irritating you? It is your choice. Which will you choose?

I'd love to hear from you! Tara