You are God's treasured possession - a precious jewel in His hand, radiating His glory even when you are going through the fire.
I recently finished a book that my friend recommended to me and as I chatted with her about how good the book was, she mentioned that it was a pearl field. As I read what she wrote it immediately triggered the memory of a dream I had last year. In this dream, I was getting ready to go to a wedding and my earring fell. As I bent down to get it, I saw a string of pearls that I had lost, lying under the bed. When I got dressed, I had a on different necklace, however. It was long with pearls and rubies at a little distance from each other and a cross was at the side. This memory prompted me to look up the significance of pearls and rubies in the Bible.
First, I looked at rubies. In Exodus 28, the ruby was to be placed on the first row of precious stones for the priest’s breastplate of judgment. The Proverbs 31 woman was described as being “worth far more than rubies.” In Job 28, the price of wisdom was beyond that of rubies, and in Proverbs 3 and 8, wisdom is said to be “more precious than rubies.” Interestingly, the ruby is also described as a pearl. Okay now, stay with me. Don’t get lost in my ramblings. It is time to use your imagination. What does the ruby remind you of? Well, many rubies can be described as blood-red, and these are of the greatest value. Get that? Oh, the precious blood of Jesus.
We are going even deeper now to under the earth where the ruby is formed in extreme heat and pressure. Hey y’all, don’t try to get out of the fire and from under the pressure too quickly. God is using them to mold you into one of His most precious gemstones for all to see. And you know what? When most rubies are forged, they often come out with imperfections. These imperfections will make the expert eye know that they are authentic, or if they are created by man. We may complain about the things in our lives that are not perfect and we may even try to hide our imperfections, yet God will use every imperfection for His glory.
I don’t know about you, but I am excited about being a ruby even though I have to stay in the fire and come under pressure. But, what about the pearl? Even the ruby is described as a pearl. The pearl comes up several times in the New Testament and Jesus even used it as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven. He also exhorted His disciples to not throw their “pearls before swine.” (See Matthew 7:6.) That has become a common saying, which many use in a variety of context. I remember an aunt telling me this regarding relationships. Pearls after all, are of great price and also connotes wisdom.
You might be eager to discover the process of the formation of the pearl. It sure isn’t easy. By now, you should have figured out that anything worthy doesn’t come easy. And your blessing may come out of such a mess you might miss it. The pearl is no different. Pearls are fashioned when a foreign body, which some may describe as an irritant gets into an oyster. The oyster’s defense against this invasion is to secrete a fluid to coat what it sees as an “attacker.” The layers of coating become a priceless pearl. Cultured pearls that are of great value go through this process for at least 3 years. Lower valued pearls get out faster, within a year or less, so it does not have enough time to become of the finest quality. You see, quality in this case is determined by quantity – the number of years stuck with an irritant. But, my friends this irritation could be the beginning of something priceless, depending on your response. You might want to get rid of it, but what you need to do is coat it in the oil of joy, and let your prayer and praise envelop that problem while watching it be transformed into something beautiful and precious. Praising under pressure can be difficult, nevertheless we can draw upon the joy of the Lord for strength. God inhabits the praises of His people, so He is with us through it all turning what was meant for evil to good, and giving us treasures in darkness and riches in secret places.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 NASB
God may not have created the problem, but He has allowed it and is using it for our good. Inevitably, we will want the trial to end, but enduring to the end will give us great triumph. When we can accept the situation with thankfulness, the enemy is confounded because instead of complaining we are content in all things. We must speak the Word over the situation and pray persistently. Don’t forget to be patient through the process and wait on the Lord as He makes the obstacles opportunities to show His glory.Patience is rendered longsuffering in many Bible translations. God Himself is longsuffering during our time of disobedience.
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 NKJV
God’s goodness, tolerance and endurance through our disobedience is regarded as riches and it is His kindness which brings us to repentance. His characteristics are priceless jewels. We too take on similar attributes while we are in the fire, under pressure, in deep waters, in darkness and under attack, spiritual or otherwise. God will know when we are ready to come out as He is the Expert Jeweler, and when it is time we will emerge as cultured pearls of the finest quality and rare blood-red rubies, precious in His sight.
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