We are rapidly approaching Christmas. A time of year where things sparkle. Most of the items we see sparkling, sparkle from glitter. It’s a cheap way to make things noticeable and beautiful. Diamonds sparkle, but they are not cheap, and most people don’t have diamonds. There are a lot of imitations compared to the “real deal.” However, I believe there are many diamonds that are still in the rough stage. These are diamonds in the earth that need to be cleaned and polished. I think this can also be applied to many Christians. Many are a diamond in the rough
Pick up the mirror and look in it. Each of us immediately finds flaws. Why are we that way? Insecurities? We judge ourselves according to the world’s standards, but we need to remember the world does not see all that we are. The first woman, Eve must have been gorgeous, after all, she was perfect. No cellulite, wrinkles, bags, dark circles, thinning hair, crooked teeth, etc. Scripture never gives us a physical description of her. Her beauty, splendid as it must have been, is never mentioned or even alluded to. The focus God chooses is Eve’s duty to her Creator and her role alongside her husband. That is a significant fact reminding us that the chief distinguishing traits of true feminine excellence are not superficial. Women who are obsessed with image, cosmetics, body shapes and other external matters have a distorted view of femininity.
Yes, we may not look the way we want to, but we need to look deep within ourselves and see what God sees. In Psalm 139 David is sure that God perfectly or completely knows him and all his ways. Read Psalm 139:1-17
This is not a “knowing” like we know a fact about someone. It is a knowing of interaction, an experiential knowledge. He seeks to point out what he knows so we will change. David realizes and acknowledges he is always under the eye of God. God is omnipresent, he sees and knows everything. David acknowledges this and sees himself open before God.
Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Because we are the work of his hands. There is no doubt he knows us; he saw us when we were in the forming, and we cannot be hidden from him now. Psalm 139:13-16 “Thou hast possessed my reins;” Barnes notes says, “the word reins literally mean, the “kidneys;” and then, it comes to denote the inward part, the mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. The meaning here is, that God had made him; that the innermost recesses of his being had been constituted as they are by God; and that, “therefore,” he must be able to see all that there is in the very depths of the soul, however it may be hidden from the eye of man.”
He made us and we are His possession. The possession he has is a rightful possession. Job 10:11 tells us “thou hast clothed me with flesh, thou made me in secret.”
The glory is here given entirely to God, Psalm 100:3b “ for it is he that has made us and not we ourselves.” He is the author of my being; my parents were only the instruments of it.” It was done. Under the divine inspection: of an awesome God. By the divine operation. As the eye of God saw us, his hands made us, and we were his work. Even if you feel you are beautiful, you should take no pride in that, because it was God that made you.
We see that God himself formed us, and he didn’t make a mistake. That would indicate he is capable of sin, and he is not. So when we look at ourselves we should try to see what God sees.
I want us to look at ourselves as “A Diamond in the rough.”The base element of a diamond is carbon. It is not something you would define as pretty. In this state, no one wants it, unless it is to burn for fuel but, if it stays in the earth it can change into something extremely beautiful. What makes this lump of coal a thing of beauty? Let’s look at the conditions that must be present for this lump to become a thing of beauty.
For a diamond to form it takes tremendous pressure!
Have you ever felt like the weight of this world was just pushing you down? As if it was directing your life and all you could do is react. Sometimes that is God using our circumstances to mold us. His goal for us is to be conformed into the image of his dear Son.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
To be conformed implies that we are to resemble him in holiness and in character. The phrase “to be the firstborn” is the idea that he is to be pre-eminent as the model and example for our life”. We are never to compare ourselves to others. Our standard for our life is Jesus Christ.
For us to be like him we need to be willing to remain under the pressure that God deems necessary to form us to his image. Once formed, the diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material. Most natural diamonds are formed at high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. Existing at depths of 87 to 120 miles in the earth’s mantle. Now that is pressure!
A true Christian should not fear or dread a trial. It will not destroy him. If we stay focused on Christ and seek his guidance we will be more valuable because our trials, like gold, after it has been through the heat. There is no danger of destroying true purity. It will live in the flames and will survive the raging heat that will one day consume the world.
Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Zechariah 13:9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, it is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”
The last phrase is after they have been through the fire.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
We do not need to fear the molding of our lives by the maker. Pressure is not enough to make a diamond valuable. It is how you react to that pressure. Once it is formed deep within the earth, it must then be chiseled. Anything that would detract from the beauty of the diamond is chiseled away.
Sometimes we may come to God after we have lived a lifestyle of sin. In that case, we may be chiseled down until we are seemingly small. That does not mean that God can’t use you. It just means your opportunities may be different. He will heal the broken and wounded, but the consequences will still be there.
II Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
When I feel weak; when I am subjected to trial, then strength is imparted to me, and I am enabled to bear it. The more trials, the more I feel my need of divine assistance. The more I feel the effectiveness of divine grace.
Deuteronomy 33:25; “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Hebrews 11:24; “Who out of weakness were made strong.” What Christian has not experienced this, and been able to say when she felt weak, sinking under the accumulation of many trials, she found her strength and felt an arm of power supporting her? It is then that the Redeemer manifests himself in a special manner; and then that the excellency of Christ is truly seen. His power is appreciated and felt.
Once diamonds are formed they are very valuable, and so are we
So valuable that it cost God his precious Son. That is how much we are worth to him. The King of Kings, Master of the Universe, the one that owns it all, and needs for nothing, places the worth of His Son on me. He bought us back with the life of his Son.
I Corinthians 6:19 & 20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which is God’s.”
Not any jeweler can take the rough piece of carbon and make it valuable. It takes a master jeweler to take a stone and get the full value from it. The same is true for us. If we want to be the very best that God designed us to be, we must allow him to mold us.
Jeremiah 18:6 b“ cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand”
When a vessel was ruined, the potter did not throw it away, but crushed it together, dashed it back upon the wheel, and began his work afresh, until the clay had taken the predetermined shape. Sometimes this may happen more than once. God always knows what is best for us. He knows the future, and he is constantly trying to mold us so we can reflect more of Him.
So, if from time to time you feel a little bruised, remember, he is molding you, and it may be painful. The pressure may seem so great you think you can’t make it, but he is shaping you for something you cannot see. And he is always there, he has promised in Hebrews 13:5 “he will never leave us or forsake us.” He said the same phrase in Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, and I Chronicles 28:20.
Once it has gone through the process you can’t destroy it.
Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Only an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-caring God, could give us such an illustration of what it takes to be truly beautiful, brilliantly shining, and awesome useful in his own creation. When I stand before him one day I want to be what he has designed me to be. I want to present to him a life that is totally surrendered. I do not want to be living a half-hearted Christen life, just doing enough to get by. I want to live a life of excellence seeking the very best for him. Not what is “ok” in my eyes, but the best.The best in my planning, in my giving, my activities, my parenting, my submission as a wife, my service to the church, – everything surrendered! I want this old’ lump of coal to shine to its maximum for his glory!
