You are a diamond!

Diamonds go through so much processing to make them into the beautiful gem today. I was studying and reading that diamonds are created 50 mile below the surface of the earth. The hardest substance known to man, the most popular gemstone of all time, and everybody knows....that diamond's are a girls best friend!.....Imagine the pressure. Imagine the darkness. Imagine the isolation. Imagine the distance from anyone who would ever appreciate the process or even discover that they were there. And all the while, the refining goes on until an outside force declares “That’s enough” and the release and retrieval, the digging of the stones begin.

The master craftsman cuts away the impurities and imperfections and begins the arduous process of faceting, so that at every possible angle of light is reflected. A diamond is cut in the shape you see for one reason...so that all light entering the stone, from any direction, will be transmitted out the top of the stone. This is what makes a diamond brilliant. The final polish produces a diamond as nearly perfect as any jewel on earth and certainly more loved than any other.

And so it is with Christians. Those who suffer the greatest pressure, the most agonizing trials, the severest losses, the battlefield of the mind, and the most debilitating infirmities, are being carefully formed by the One who Himself crafts His saints, His diamonds, the darlings of His care. We are cut, carved, crafted, and polished into the wonderful people of God.....sheer brilliancey.