Pearls

“Pearls are formed when a natural or artificial irritant enters a mollusk (oyster or mussel), prompting it to secrete a protective, crystalline substance called nacre (a mixture of calcium carbonate and proteins) to coat the intruder. This layer-by-layer coating process, occurring over months or years, creates the lustrous gem, with cultured pearls involving human insertion of a nucleus.” — (Google info through AI)

Isn’t that interesting? The process is much longer than I thought it would be… but it makes sense, doesn’t it?

Have you ever heard the phrase, “We plant the seed, but God makes it grow”? It’s the same concept.

We can talk to others, share the gospel, and do all we can to help them become a Christ follower, or even help them in their walk, but no matter what we say, God is the one who makes that seed grow and sprout.

That’s hard to process because we want to be the one to help them cross that bridge and ask Jesus to forgive them, but sometimes that is not the part we have.

I think of Paul and his journey. Time after time, he visited places and would teach them, and then he would leave in hopes that they would continue in their journey. He would then write them letters of encouragement or correction. He would send fellow disciples to help them, or he himself would return to them.

I can just imagine the burden that he carried for them, but also the wisdom he had to give them what he could, because he knew only God could do the rest.

The Parable of the Seed is all about people listening to Jesus’ teaching, but only a handful understanding.

Mattew 13:3-9 - “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Even Jesus knew the people’s hearts and who would believe and who wouldn’t. He was here for the sole purpose of sharing the gospel. But again, He knew that all He could do was share and let God do the rest.

These examples are meant to help us understand that it is not all on us. We do our part, and God does the rest.

So, just like the forming of pearls there is a process to everything, and we need to true that. We need to trust that Jesus can make beauty from ashes and pearls from sand.