Imagine an oyster and a grain of sand. The poor oyster is minding his own business when, with no fault of his own, an irritant enters his shell. The oyster may think, “This is annoying, I was just relaxing at the bottom of the sea, and now I have this irritating grain of sand in me.”

Over time, the grain of sand gets covered by nacre, also known as “mother‑of‑pearl.” Eventually, the outcome of this irritant, this so‑called mistake, is a pearl of great price. That is what God does.

Humans do the opposite. We take pearls and we grind them into sand. It is human nature to take something good, which God has provided, and complain about it. We turn it into something that is not good at all.

God takes some terrible circumstances in our lives and turns them into some incredible things. Think about the oyster and the pearl the next time you are in a trial. Everything that happens in life can be used of God to help you.