Are you experiencing difficulty? Do you have something that is an unwelcome irritant invading your world with seemingly no resolve? Does it feel like the difficulty is trying to overtake or consume your life?
Consider the beauty of the pearl. One of the most precious and beautiful jewels of the sea is formed out of difficulty. When an irritant enters the oyster’s shell, it responds by coating the irritant with sheets of aragonite, conchiolin and secretions of narce between each layer. These are the very same things in which the oyster’s shell is made out of. Over time, as it continues to add layer upon layer, a beautiful pearl is formed. What once was only an irritant, seeking to impair and possibly destroy the oyster has now become the platform it has used to create something beautiful.
How do you take difficulty in your life that seems like an un-welcomed irritant and make something beautiful out of it?
Refocus and Leverage the Difficulty for Good. Do not let the difficulty consume your life and your attention. We have a choice. We can choose to allow the difficulty to overcome us and let it be the place where our story ends or we can choose to leverage the difficulty and respond accordingly. Don’t allow yourself to be the victim to the difficulty. Instead deliberately choose to respond, forgive and press on. Train yourself to leverage the difficulty for good and watch them turn into beautiful things in your life that empower you instead of victimize you.
crutch that victimizes you and keeps you from overcoming and robs your joy. Instead, leverage the irritant for good and the way that you see the the irritant will turn into something beautiful much like how the pearl is formed in the oyster.
What Starts Off Difficult Doesn’t Have to Stay Difficult if You Respond the Right Way. What if the oyster just let the irritant just exist in it’s shell? What if it simply just got used to its irritation? What if the oyster complained to all its oyster friends (who also have irritants too) about how bad it was and how unfair it was and how it wished it would just go away? We might say to that oyster, “get it together! That irritant is trying to kill you but you have the power to overtake it!” But since the oyster chooses to respond and and keep responding by covering it with aragonite, conchiolin and secretions of narce between each layer, it is able to create something beautiful out of the very thing that sought to destroy it. What beautiful thing are you creating from your difficulty?
When it Feels Like There’s Too Many “Irritants” or Issues Flaring Up in Your Life at One Time, Hang On. Just like some oysters have multiple pearls, they are formed through multiple irritants. The ones with extremely large pearls are developed through the process of responding continuously over an extended period of time to the irritant. Some of the most successful people in life do not live difficulty free, but instead they’ve chosen to continuously respond the right way.
with the irritant that enables them to make an even bigger and more beautiful pearl.
Stay Engaged Even in the Midst of a Difficulty. A pearl is not produced by the oyster just watching the irritant and worrying or complaining about it. No, the oyster deliberately chooses to stay engaged, not just upon the initial invasion of the irritant but continuously. We too must also stay engaged. It’s not enough to stay engaged one day and to disengage the next few days and expect constant long term progress. Everyday, we must not only respond but stay engaged.
Use What You’ve Been Given. The oyster does not respond to the irritant with anything outside, it simply uses what it has been given. It has been designed not only to experience these irritants but also, it has been designed with a response mechanism within its body that is comprised of the very substances in its own shell. What have you been given that has equipped you to respond to difficulty? Do you know that the same power that conquered the grave lives in you? That means that since we have Jesus, we have been equipped to handle every difficulty through His strength and grace. But, this is only if we choose to allow Him to.
Respond the Right Way to the Difficulty. The oyster responds to the irritant with the most powerful weapon is possesses, the aragonite, conchiolin and secretions of narce. The oyster responds to the irritant with the strongest thing it possesses. Like the oyster, we must respond to difficulties and challenges with the strongest thing we possess which is the Word of God. It in the irrefutable truth through which we can continuously build our life upon. Ephesians 6:10-11 tells us to “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:10-18