"It's easy to endure in the good times. It's when the hard times hit that our endurance is proven. When times get tough, it's tempting to neglect the secret place." I've said things quite similar to this myself...
- "Hardship can be embraced with joy, in my opinion, only when we understand God's purpose in the pain. 'My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience' (James 1:2-3). The only way to be joyful in trials is through "knowing" -- knowing God's purpose in it. How do we learn God's purposes in our sufferings? The secret pursuit of God in His word is what will reveal purpose to us."
- "One of the scriptural symbols for this process is pearl. Pearl is formed within an oyster which has experienced the distress of a foreign particle of sand getting stuck within its shell. Pearl represents the eternally valuable change God works within us in the place of hardship. There is nothing else that changes us quite so readily and profoundly as a devotion to the secret place in the midst of grueling hardship."
- "The longer the irritant resides within the oyster's shell, the more valuable the pearl becomes. Therefore, the formative value of tribulation is sometimes directly proportional to the duration of the crucible. The longer the distress, the more valuable the pearl. It is the confidence of this reality which empowers us to persevere with joy. When we endure in love through hardship, we qualify to enter the gates of pearl - for the only way to enter the eternal city is through the pearly gates of "treasure perfected in hardship."
Abiding with all the endurance I can muster,
Lori
4 comments:
so have you wondered how valuable your pearl is since your irritant has been so much?
just a thought......
I like the analogy of the pearl. We will endure suffering as long as it is promised to be short-lived. But that is not always God's plan or His best. One of the moms in my life that I most admired was very soft-spoken always with her kids. And they responded to a soft whistle from her. When I commented on it, she told me the soft-spokenness was a result of a chronic medical condition and she had no choice. But it had produced such a wonderful result in her family!
And you are enduring with grace and beauty!
Thanks for sharing your patience and your journey with us. You are an inspiration!
Debra:
I don't even dare to think of such things! Anytime someone mentions "jewels in my crown" or anything of that nature, I remind them that the only reason we have crowns in heaven is so that we may lay them at the feet of Christ!!
Kristin:
If you have to have a medical condition that you live with chronically, I'd have to say that one sure does produce a great ripple effect, huh?
SupermansLady:
Well, thank you I appreciate that. I only hope that I can help others somehow - that makes the suffering somewhat endurable. BTW, I don't know who you are, because you don't sign your posts and I don't have any friends I refer to by your screen name. Do I know you personally???
Lori
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