What are pearls? Pearls are formed from irritations inside a clam. A grain of sand lodges in the flesh of a clam and begins to form an irritation. The body of the clam begins to fight the sand by building up calcium. As it builds up calcium it starts to form a pearl. As we fight against the irritations in our lives we, too form pearls. The things that we’ve endured, the things that have hurt us cause us to build up a defense, just as the clam forms a pearl by fighting against the sand trapped in its flesh. The pearls in our lives are formed by the irritations in our lives. Pearls are beautiful. They are wonderful. They look good. But those pearls were built up by the pain in our life. Those pearls were built up by pressing on. Those pearls were created by enduring hardship like a good soldier.

Your pearl will take a while to build up. You cannot build a pearl in just one minute. You cannot build a pearl in just a second. To build a pearl you may have to live with some pain for awhile; you may have to go through some irritation and suffering for awhile. But you have to find people who share a similar vision. You have to talk to people who have not given up on God. You have to talk to people who think God can do big and great things, and you’ll be motivated to stay the course. You’ll start to believe… And soon you won’t want to throw your pearls before swine.