“Under his nose was a dream come true Been there all the time and he almost knew Thoughts of people in misfortune stopped him doing things well His duty was to use it – left his pearl in the shell And the fear goes on – shadows And the tear flows on for nothing” – Howard Jones, 1984
Is there purpose in pain?
Left Your Pearl In The Shell?
a rhyming reason by C C Keaton
All of life’s adversities House a hidden capacity That, if wielded well Over time’s aching swell Using every itty bitty nitty gritty Makes a pearl in our shell
Life’s most challenging question Is there purpose in affliction? What is this pain producing? What’s the gain in our losing? Something beyond mere lesson? Collateral beauty producing?
Is something stunning Lurking beneath hurt’s constant drumming? And just how do we find These diamonds from dust refined? If we’re constantly numbing? Or choosing to be blind?
“Embrace the suck!” “Climb out of the muck!” We must look past the suffering Towards what it’s uncovering If we don’t wish to stay stuck In a constant state of wondering
For when we live through the worst If we believe the curse can reverse When we trust that God’s love Is the power that rises above Evil, pain, longings, all forms of hurts We can now fit into another’s nightmare like a glove And pull them out from drowning in mud
So, you see, the purpose to our sufferings At least on this side of eternity, the only view we now can see If we give our fears and woes To Jesus and thus expose The initial lies that we believed He turns the test to testimony The mess to a message for others foreboding
For life will always contain adversity No one escapes that fraternity But if we shame the devil and truth tell We’ll release our pearl from its shell Thus destroying all perfidy To heal others as well as ourselves
So breathe in deep Let’s wake from our sleep And give all our pain away Not to hurt others the same way But to the God who weeps with us as he sweeps the muck from us So we can have faith, hope and healing love for all other sheep!
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” 1 Peter 4:12-13, 19 NLT
