Diamonds and Faith

I have never owned a really big diamond.

I have never really wanted one.

But that doesn't mean that I don't admire their beauty or can't appreciate their worth.

They are beautiful, and for me just more proof of how creative and amazing our God is.

I love the look of the diamond that really has nothing to do with their worth.

I love the way the light plays off all it's facets. I also love how their seems to be a rainbow that is trapped inside bouncing off and reflecting the colors around it.

I rarely think about the original state that that diamond came in or the history of how it got to the state it is when I can admire it.

The root word in diamond means unconquerable and indestructible. It comes from the Greek word "Adamas".

When diamonds first start out they are not perfect and shiny, nor cut just right.

They are rough and raw and often much different looking then what we purchase in the jewelry stores.

They have to go through a process of refining. Even before they are found and dug up.

They are originally formed by incredible heat and pressure in the earth.

Diamonds are used to not only adorn our jewelry but to cut stone, metal, concrete, and even other gems. 

Meaning: they are very strong.

They are a wonder for much more than what we have commonly come to appreciate and know them for.

And it is for this reason that I am so fascinated by them.

And why lately I have been thinking about them in regards to my faith.

I want it to be strong. Unconquerable and indestructible.

But much like the diamond, it has to be refined. Cut and shaped. Polished and set.

Formed by intense heat and pressure.

It isn't until then that it can become truly beautiful. 

It can't have the strength and power that it does unless it has gone through the process that is necessary for it's outcome.

I have been walking around in wonder. 

Asking questions and in constant conversation with my Heavenly Father.

I have been still.... often crying in the silences.

I know what I want. 

And although I am still unsure as to how to get it, I am still willing.

Unshakeable, confident, unwavering faith.

I have doubted in the past that I can ever have it.

I am starting to believe that it is mine if I really want it.

But I am in the intense heat and pressure part of the process.

I still have so far to go.

So many I have shared with have been feeling the same way.

But we all feel the same sense of hope. 

The coming of something so much more and far more beautiful than our hoping for could ever produce.

Diamonds. 

Rare and precious.

Strong and pure.

Refined and with proven worth.

This is Faith in its truest form.

And it is what I am working toward.

.... until another tomorrow.

~m.

^"1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

 ^3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

 ^6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."  Romans 5: 1-8 , The Message Bible