“Papa, look!” Someone had just given a six-year-old a string of plastic pearls, and she was bubbling over with excitement as she ran to show them to her father.

“These are beautiful,” her father said. For a long, thoughtful moment he turned them over in his hand and watched them shine in the light from the lamp next to his easy chair. Then he asked, “Will you do something for me? Will you give me these beads in exchange for something I will give you tomorrow?”

“What’s that?” asked the little girl.

“You’ll see tomorrow,” her father replied.

The little girl’s eyes betrayed her inward struggle.

“It’s up to you,” the father said. “You don’t have to make the trade just because I am asking you to, but have I ever asked you to do anything that wasn’t for your good? Can you trust that I know best?”

It wasn’t easy, but the little girl handed the beads to her father. He slipped them into his pocket, and gave her a big hug that said, “I’m proud of you.”

The next day, the father gave the little girl a gift that was far more beautiful and valuable—a delicate gold chain with a genuine pearl pendant. The little girl forgot all about the string of plastic pearls.

“I did this to teach you to trust the Father in Heaven,” her father explained. “Many times in your life He will ask you to give up something you want, or to avoid something that to you looks good, and often you won’t understand why. But if you trust your heavenly Father as you have trusted me, you will find that He always knows best. When He asks you to give up some things, it’s because He wants to give you much better things.”

Have I Ever Asked You To Do Anything That Wasn’t For Your Good?

In one of the parables that Jesus told, He likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a pearl so rare, so beautiful, and so costly that one man sold everything he owned in order to buy that one pearl (Matthew 13:45–46). We can have a little bit of Heaven here and now, but the gifts and treasures of the spirit come at a price. To experience and enjoy the things of eternal value, we have to make room for them; we have to be willing to give up some of our “trinkets,” the trivialities and fleeting pleasures of this life. God satisfies the hungry hearts with good things, but the rich—those who are too busy or satisfied with other things—He sends away empty (Psalm 107:9; Luke 1:53). Will you “sell” the things of this world in order to gain the true riches?