Layers of Grace

A pearl doesn’t start out as a pearl. It starts out as a mistake inside an oyster. Something that doesn’t belong. An irritation the size of a grain of sand. Who would think something that small could make any difference?

Oysters deal with an invasion of a foreign object by covering it with the same stuff that coats the inside of the shell. You’d think that a couple of layers around a grain of sand would be enough to take the edge off (like a couple of drinks at the end of the day) but the oyster is still irritated and the object is still foreign. A million layers later there’s a smooth shell around the intruder.

Pearls become pearls one layer at a time, and each is different in size, shape, surface and color.

Salvation happens gradually like the formation of a pearl. It starts with something wrong. Something that doesn’t belong, like a thorn. We would pick it out ourselves, but it’s impossible. Perhaps we pray, but God doesn’t touch it with a ten-foot pair of tweezers. It is not removed. We live with it.

So much for instant salvation.

It’s more like frustration (“coming up empty”).

I don’t offer a solution, but I have had decades of experience with foreign invasion.

I’ve found that with the right amount of Steadfast Love and Compassion---one layer at a time---the wrong is covered by grace. What is unacceptable is accepted. What is unlovable is embraced; even transformed into something priceless.