Too Much

1 Corinthians 10:13- There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I think we have all had moments when we have questioned God. We felt like the walls were closing in on us, and it was all getting to be too much. We find ourselves in test after test with no room to breathe. We feel pressured. We get tired. We feel depressed. We feel like giving up, or maybe that’s just me. In these moments, I’ve learned to encourage myself. I remind myself that God will not put more on me than I can bear. I tell myself that God is faithful. I meditate on God’s word. Does it change my immediate situation? No, put it does change me. It helps me to stop operating out of my own strength and rely on God’s. So, when life feels like too much, remember there is always a way of escape.

Pearls

I grew up wanting to wear my grandmother's pearls. I loved how beautiful and shiny they were against her brown skin. I knew it was a special occasion if my grandmother was wearing her pearls. Ironically, "pearl" was one of her nicknames. My grandmother valued her pearls, maybe because she knew what it cost her or maybe because wearing her pearls made her forget momentarily that she was a Black woman raised in the segregated South.

The bible speaks about not throwing your pearls to swine. Simply put, don't give what you value away. Some species of oysters die when a pearl is harvested. Are you willing to die for what you produced? Are you willing to die for your purpose to be accomplished? Your life's work is your pearl. 

Pearls are produced by irritation. The defense mechanism of the oyster is to isolate the irritant. What's irritating you? It's producing your pearls. Every layer you use to isolate the irritation is adding dimension, color, and value to your pearls.