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Wounded Oysters
Yenny Kartika Official Writer
1302Genesis 41:52
God has
caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Bible Reading for a Year [bible]psalm102[/bible]; [bible]0luke23[/bible];
[bible]ezeki9-10[/bible]
When seemingly
needless suffering invades our lives, we often ask ourselves, “Who needs all
this grief?” But consider, for a moment, the origin of pearls.
Each pearl
is formed by an oyster’s internal response to a wound caused by an irritant,
such as a grain of sand. Resources of repair rush to the injured area. The
final result is a lustrous pearl. Something beautiful is created that would
have been impossible without the wound.
In today’s
Bible reading, we see Joseph in a position of influence, a position God soon
used to feed surrounding nations and Joseph’s family during famine. But how did
he become influential? It began with a wound—being sold into slavery (Genesis
39)—which produced a pearl of usefulness. Because Joseph drew on God’s
resources when humiliated, he became better, not bitter. He named his second
son Ephraim, which means “twice fruitful,” and he said, “God has caused me to
be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:52).
Author Paul
E. Billheimer says of Joseph, “If human pity could have rescued him from the
sad part of his life, the glorious part that followed would have been lost.” So
if you’re suffering, remember: No wounds, no pearls!
Adversities are often blessings in
disguise.
