Visual Devotion: From Pain to Pearl
Kelly Bermudez is an artist I just discovered recently and I absolutely love her work. Here is an example of her work and just the heart behind it.
I have written before about the pearl and the oyster shell as I have always been fascinated by this process. I have been that grain of sand time and time again and it seems the beautiful pearl is a long way off but I’m in the process. So many things have irritated that grain of sand… and these are the things that have formed my character best! I love how the oyster coats that grain of sand with that precious substance to protect itself from irritation.
To protect ourselves, we do similar things:
- We numb ourselves with food, drugs, drink etc.
- We build a wall around us
- We get angry at people
- We do the blame game
- We avoid people and isolate because people hurt us!
- We do anything except accept the irritation and let that turn into a beautiful pearl
I don’t know about you, but this is the way my defense mechanism goes into action. Believe me I haven’t always been able to turn the pain off…I had instances (and that is what saved me) where all I could do is surrender and let God do His work in me. There are days when I thought the pain would kill me! I feel in my heart like I am about to enter a similar process again soon.
What do you do when Pain knocks at the door of your Heart?
The Passionate Pearl 
Thanks so much Susan, you are a rare pearl yourself, amazing lady I must say
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This is a wonderful post, Jeanne! I see you as a pearl and how your face glows these days!
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@Ewenique, thank you for your wonderful comment!…Flee to Christ the man of sorrows who gives us beauty for ashes. He is the best!
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So happy to have been introduced to your shop and blog. After reading your post, I am reminded of this quote by C.S. Lewis: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Pain and suffering is part of our earthly existence. It helps loosen our grasp on this fleeting world and its vain pleasures. Flee to Christ, the Man of Sorrows, and Savior of His People. He promises beauty for ashes and joy everlasting in His presence.
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Jennifer, I just found your blog…great stuff. I posted it on my Google + page. I will send you a convo because there is something I want to share with you.
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@Jennifer, thank you for your wonderful comment, really appreciate it. Do you also have a blog?
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It’s funny. I found your post on the CAST Team blog thread, and the moment I came to your blog, I recognized Kelly’s art immediately. She IS amazing, and a wonderful talent!
Now, what do I do when Pain knocks at the door of my heart (as it is apt to do)? I praise. I put on worship music… what you put in, you put out 😉
God bless you! So glad to have found your blog!!! Will definitely keep up with you.
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Thanks ladies for your feedback. Yes I so love Kelly’s artwork…it’s so delicate, sensitive, passionate and simple at the same time. There’s a wonderful message through all these watercolors. I treated myself and bought the let go and relax one…love it!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/119626963/relax-and-let-it-go-red-gray-watercolor?ga_search_query=let%2Bgo
@Linda, Yes the pearl of God’s love…his love never fails – I need to be reminded of that right now with my grown children as they go their own way phases! 2 out of 3 are away from God!
@AnnMarie certainly know what you mean, when we got no answers, we tend to try our own way! Been there many times. I am at a time right now where I need an answer and am not getting a green or red light…it’s important…about going to visit my family in France where I am from.
@Shannon – I need to find your blog and maybe eventually read this book also, which I read when I was a new believer and didn’t have much of a clue what a lot of it meant.
May Father bless you all abundantly and reveal his deep love for you
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Lovely post! We’ve been walking through a hard year and blogging regularly about it. I also read Hinds Feet on High Places (yes, Kelly!) and loved it years ago…it’s on my shelf to read again in the very near future. ♥
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Love Kelly’s work and how you used her painting for this post…perfect. I am a fight or flight person depending on the situation. I try and go to God with an issue FIRST but we all know how that goes!!
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I literally love Kelly’s work too! Especially her passion behind her work! And I do hope that there will be many “pearls” in my life thru God’s love.
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Very excellent! It is amazing how much we can learn by observing our natural surroundings – all creation!
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OK, there we go. It works.
If you don’t mind, would you also post this blog post in the Feb. 13 castteam blog blitz
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thanks so much for the follow. I am now following your blog too. Good luck on your beautiful jewelry
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Reblogged this on Miriam Jewels Blog and commented:
We really like this post and wanted to share it with our followers. Enjoy!
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Thanks so much Sue, really appreciate you!
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I have read it, Jeanne. In fact more than 30 years ago when my journey had barely begun. It has gotten me through a lot, and I have used the wisdom of her contrast with the valleys and the mountains and where the food is really found in many an encouraging word to a friend.None of us like pain nor discomfort, so in our humanity we struggle to run away from it, but we are the ones who lose if we manage to escape, and maybe more importantly, we are then not equipped to console others in their time of need..
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Thanks Sue and Kelly, you ladies are so amazing. Yes I have read Hinds Feet many years ago. Kelly I loved your article much more than what I wrote and wanted to repost it but couldn’t because I wasn’t on Blogger. So disappointing! I also just found out that at the end of my post (which doesn’t show on my computer) an inappropriate video shows up which I am going to try to get rid of! Now apparently on WordPress if you don’t pay not to have ads they have the right to infiltrate these into your blog/site! Since it’s inappropriate maybe they’ll remove it! Hope Blogger does’t have the same issues! I just switched from Blogger about 6 months ago!!!!
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Very poignant, Jeanne. For the last few years I have become aware of how much is in this quote: God is more interested in our character than in our comfort.
I have no idea where that originated from – I heard it on the radio – but in our self-indulgent culture we sometimes feel like we are really bucking the tide to get to the goal of Christ-like character. I’ve been that oyster, too, and a beautiful pearl – a gem richer than we could ever expect – does emerge when we don’t fight the outcome.
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Thank you so much! Have you ever read the book Hinds feet in High Places? God lead me to read it and it really helped me through a very painful and dark season of my life.
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