I Corinthians 1:20 – “For all God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes.”
When people are going through tough times in life, I think a lot about the oyster that one day finds a tiny grain of sand has slipped into its shell. The sharp edges of the sand create a wound in the oyster’s muscle. It is painful. The oyster feels helpless. He has no hands or tweezers to remove the grain of sand. He is stuck with pain. He wants to know what he can do to stop the pain and heal the wound. He has choices. He can rebel against God, get angry and shake his fist at heaven and ask, “Why is this happening to me? I’ve been a good oyster; I don’t deserve this.” He can get mad at God, be bitter and miserable, have a pity party, a bad case of the “woe is me,” be a martyr saying that it’s just his cross to bear, but the pain would still be there. What is he to do? He did what God equipped him to do. The oyster begins to secrete a white milky substance that over time built layers over that grain of sand. In time the sharp edges dull and from the pain of the grain of sand a pearl is made. Don’t ever forget, God is in the pearl making business. I Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all God’s promises have been filled in Christ with a resounding yes.” That means there is a yes in every mess. When pain and suffering come our way, when life breaks your heart, when you have big decisions to make, the choice is yours. You can break down in self-pity or break through with faith in Jesus Christ trusting in God to someday somehow make a pearl from the pain, remembering He promises a yes in every mess.
When people are going through tough times in life, I think a lot about the oyster that one day finds a tiny grain of sand has slipped into its shell. The sharp edges of the sand create a wound in the oyster’s muscle. It is painful. The oyster feels helpless. He has no hands or tweezers to remove the grain of sand. He is stuck with pain. He wants to know what he can do to stop the pain and heal the wound. He has choices. He can rebel against God, get angry and shake his fist at heaven and ask, “Why is this happening to me? I’ve been a good oyster; I don’t deserve this.” He can get mad at God, be bitter and miserable, have a pity party, a bad case of the “woe is me,” be a martyr saying that it’s just his cross to bear, but the pain would still be there. What is he to do? He did what God equipped him to do. The oyster begins to secrete a white milky substance that over time built layers over that grain of sand. In time the sharp edges dull and from the pain of the grain of sand a pearl is made. Don’t ever forget, God is in the pearl making business. I Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all God’s promises have been filled in Christ with a resounding yes.” That means there is a yes in every mess. When pain and suffering come our way, when life breaks your heart, when you have big decisions to make, the choice is yours. You can break down in self-pity or break through with faith in Jesus Christ trusting in God to someday somehow make a pearl from the pain, remembering He promises a yes in every mess.
– Dr. Tim Thompson