“Why God, Why?” Olivia cried. “Where were you when I needed you most? You knew that evil man was coming. You could have protected me. Why didn’t you? He dragged me away from my childhood home and hurt me so terribly. He put something inside my body and the pain of that intrusion continues to this very day. In fact a tumor is starting to grow in my body as a result of that trauma. Oh, why must I suffer so?” Olivia shed bitter tears. “Why have your forsaken me, God?”

Then she seemed to hear the Creator call to her, “Olivia, do you love me in spite of your wounds and your woundedness?”

“Oh yes I love you. But you could have prevented this. Please heal me. Please take this tumor away,” she prayed.

“Yes, my child, I hear you. All of creation groans and waits for the day of redemption, from the smallest creature to the greatest. Trust me my child. Don’t let your tears be tears of bitterness and recrimination. They would only destroy you. Bear your burden for my sake. Shed your tears of pain, but while you are crying, cover your wound and your woundedness with love and forgiveness. That is the way of redemption, the way of release.”

So Olivia cried, day after day, “I love you Creator. Please forgive him who wounded me.” But she did not get any better. The more she cried and prayed the bigger the tumor seemed to grow. Eventually Olivia began to see the tumor as part of herself, and not something foreign. She began to accept the unacceptable. She even began to cover it with her love until the day came when the evil man returned. He ripped the tumor that she had begun to love out of her body. Then he tossed her aside.

Then she heard the Creator’s voice again. “Olivia, your tears of love have done a great work. They have produced a precious pearl. Without an irritant and your tears, this pearl could not have been created.”

You see, Olivia was an oyster.

Prayer: Redeem my tears, God. Use them to make a thing of beauty to bless someone else.