Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends.
One of the reasons I so love to travel – especially on airplanes – is because I meet the most interesting people. And most of them are Christians – they recognize me and often come up and introduce themselves… and you’d never believe how many Christians are actually “out there;” it’s really encouraging that God’s got his people everywhere!
Anyway, recently I was flying to the east coast and there was an off-duty flight attendant sitting in front of me. Halfway through the flight, she turned around, introduced herself as Judy, and we struck up a conversation – Judy confided that when she saw the gate agent help me on board, she started praying for me. And then she said that halfway through the prayer, God told her to give me something she had in her purse. It was a beautiful little natural pearl bracelet – but these weren’t the smooth round kind of pearls you’d expect. They were all defective and misshapen with lots of bumps and ridges on them. Far from perfect, they were all odd-shaped and unmatched. But strung together and with that beautiful pearlescent surface, those faulty pearls looked really lovely. Judy had made the bracelet a few weeks earlier and had been keeping it in her purse to give to someone… someone that the Lord she thought might lay on her heart.
“So here,” Judy said, “these are for you.” I was speechless, especially when she explained that she had been asking the Lord to show her to whom she should give them. “Me?” I said. “But why are you giving this pearl bracelet to me?” That’s when she told me to take a close look at those pearls.They were defective looking; they didn’t even look like pearls, but they sure were rich and lovely looking. “Isn’t it amazing,” she said, “how God can make something so imperfect look so beautiful?”
Well, I kind of got the message, but then Judy added one more thing. She asked if, after I’d worn the bracelet for awhile, to please pass it on to someone else… someone I thought reflected the beauty of the Lord through their weakness. And that’s exactly what I did. A few days later I was with a friend who struggles with a great deal of pain – and as we talked, I sensed God nudging me to give the pearl bracelet that was on my wrist to her.
As I look back on that bracelet, I think it really was far more beautiful than a normal bracelet with all the pearls looking the same. The faulty pearls made a much more interesting bracelet; it was just more fascinating to look at, more captivating. And maybe that’s exactly what God has in mind when he allows flaws and weaknesses in our lives. As we yield to the Lord, our weaknesses take on a strange beauty that fascinates others and captures their interest in godly things.
Now you may be a Christian dealing with your own imperfections – you might even think you are a little defective in some way – but if you find you need a little help seeing the beauty in it all, then I’d like to send you a little booklet by biblical counselor David Powlison; it’s called “Why Me?” and it will help explain how you, too, can find the beauty in all your brokenness. Just write me at joniandfriendsradio.org or you can always call us toll-free at 888-522-5664 and ask for the booklet “Why Me?” Or if you still like to use what they call “snail mail,” then here’s our address: Joni and Friends, Post Office Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91367. Remember, if you think you have your fair share of flaws and faults – like those odd misshapen pearls, don’t forget Ecclesiastes 3:11 because God makes all things beautiful in his time. And if you have Christ in your heart shining forth through those imperfections, you really can’t get more beautiful than that.
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