I think one of the greatest hindrances to the development of our full potential is the curse of the immediate and the obvious.
We’ve conditioned ourselves to believe that the best wisdom, the best way of life, the best anything, really, is something that you can recognize right away. Or is helpful to you right away.
I call it the pearl of wisdom way of thinking.
Think of the expression, a pearl of wisdom. A saying or sentence that immediately and succinctly sounds true. That’s what we want. Pearls of wisdom. Or really, just pearls, period. Things that have immediate and obvious value and impact.
A marriage that you can put on the shelf and show off.
A job where everything is always easy.
A church with supersonic growth from day 1.
The problem is that God doesn’t always work that way. God will sometimes give you pearls, and when He does, be thankful. But from my experience, God’s wisdom and God’s work usually comes in the form of a seed, not a pearl.
A seed has to go into the dirt to develop. It takes time. It doesn’t have the obvious value that a pearl does. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t significant. A pearl may have immediate and obvious value, but a seed has latent and potential power. It doesn’t look like much immediately, but over time, its true worth shows itself.
So:
Maybe you go through a rough season in your marriage.
Maybe you’re reassigned at work to a department where your talents aren’t used to their full potential.
Maybe your church is just barely puttering along.
And your first thought is that maybe you’ve made a mistake, and it’s time to bail. Maybe it’s no longer God’s will for you to be in the marriage. At the job. In your church. Maybe you’re just not cut out for this.
Maybe.
Or maybe your problem is that you’re looking for a pearl. God, on the other hand, is trying to give you a seed in the form of the experiences He is giving you. The opportunities He is putting before you. The challenges He is throwing at you.
Maybe if you would just wait and let that seed sprout, what you’re going to come away with will be better than the pearl you’re looking for. Maybe God has something better for you on the other side – a marriage that can go the distance, a better appreciation for your job, a stronger church – that you’ll only get if you’ll just be patient and let the seed come to life.
Don’t uproot what God is trying to plant in you. Don’t just wait for a pearl that you can set on a shelf. Let God put the seed in the ground. And let Him grow it in His time. Believe me, you’ll love the harvest when it finally comes.
