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“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (some translations say “endurance”). But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

Feeling irritable? Or perhaps you feel like life itself is irritable. Your trials, tribulations—all the things that cause you suffering or worry—are like irritations that sometimes produce terrible emotional or physical pain. Is this pain actually worth anything? Well, according to the Bible, the testing of our faith produces things like patience, endurance, wholeness, and perfection. But how? Perhaps the answer can be found in the difficult process in which pearls are made.

First, an irritant, such as a parasite, lodges within an oyster or clam. This nuisance makes a nice, comfortable home inside its new shell—right alongside its reluctant host. Meanwhile, the oyster is aggravated by this and starts secreting something called “nacre.” Over time, the nacre builds up and creates protective layers over the parasite. Eventually, after years of layering, the parasitic irritant has a radiant, new form. Pearls are known for being precious, (ever heard of the Pearl of Great Price?), and real ones are costly. However, they can only be created when the oyster or clam is provoked by something unwanted—an intrusion into their life.

This morning, as I thought about life’s irritants—and how they cause me great suffering—I was reminded about the life of a clam. A clam is nothing special, really. In fact, it can only produce something beautiful when challenged by long-term “trials.” Did you know that it actually takes up to three years for an oyster to produce a pearl? While that seems like a long time, it may be encouraging that we can be so much like that burrowing shellfish.

I’m not sure if James had clams in mind when he wrote about endurance, but it sure seems fitting when he said the testing of our faith produces patience. Patience helps us to “be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Trials that last for years, or even various trials over the course of many years, generate the perfect environment for creating pearls—even if we have brought those trials upon our own heads.

In 2014, a woman from Virginia Beach bought a $15 bag of clams. When she bit down on one, she discovered a rare purple pearl—one that was worth $3,000! Think about your trials and reflect on how they have changed you—God is perfecting and completing you through those irritants! The process is painful, but the results are breathtaking, and worth far more than three grand. So, according to Isaiah 61:3, trust in God to bestow upon you a crown of beauty for ashes, or, in this case: pearls for parasites.

“Dear God, help us to trust that You will be with us when we suffer in life’s trials and tribulations. Help us to believe that You are going to turn those tough times into a beautiful rendition of eternal significance in a temporal world.”

For His Glory

Ruby Sand
TRBC Women’s Life