Micah 7:18 “Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His Possession? He does not retain anger forever because He delights in unchanging love.”
Have you ever looked back at times in your life and realized the hand of God had been with you; But at the time it seemed all was darkness and sorrow? Haven’t we all?
I was in a marriage with my high school sweet heart when life took a horrible turn for the worst and I found myself a single mother of two pre-teens, single head of household, and very inadequate finances. I had rebelled against the warning signs God had placed in front of me along, with some bad decisions of others added on top, and found myself in circumstances that many women fear the most; rejection, abandonment, and despair. There was a short time that the only answer seemed to be ending life all together.
The Grace of God is the only way I can explain my survival. Survival that was mental, physical, emotional and spiritual; all were going down for the last count. Looking back I can see the hand of God moving, protecting and creating situations that were for my good, but at the time He was difficult to see. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?
Looking back I wonder about what had I learned. Before, when the sign said “Don’t”, I “Did”. Now when the signs say, “Don’t”, then I “Don’t”. The rules are in place to validate not negate my life. If God says, “Don’t” then there is a good reason and I don’t have to know everything He knows. In fact, the older I get the more I understand what He understands and I would really rather go back to a state of bliss! But once you cross the line and know something, you can’t un-know it.
So what now? I had crossed the line into Don’t-Ville and knew, to my chagrin, the sorrow that begins at the city limits of Don’t-Ville. I knew also the relief and joy of my King in Shining Armor rescuing me. What was I to do with what I knew? Christ had rescued me from sure death and given me a new life, beginning with Him as the Head of Household. He turned my sorrow into a life of joy. He had taken my sorrows and turned them into victory and a testimony of Christ in my life.
As grain of sand causes pain and sorrow to an oyster, my rebellion had caused pain and sorrow to myself and to God. But just as the pain the oyster experiences causes it to respond in way that brings for a pearl. My response to my sorrow drove me to my knees with the ugly, mascara running, snot blowing, andrug-eating repentance that moved the heart of God. His word says, Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”
When we become broken and contrite over our sins and call out to God, He comes and does what we cannot. He can take our sorrows and change them into a pearl of great value. Hopefully we can take all of our sorrows to Christ, and by the end of our lives, we will have, A String of Pearls.
Thank you for asking for a place to purchase String of Pearls.
