The Beauty and Value of a Diamond

Do you feel like the weight of the world is on you? Do you feel under pressure, not sure if you can hold up? Do you feel like the heat is on? Does it feel as if this weight, this pressure, this heat, well, it has gone on for a long time?

What do you think of when you see a diamond? Beauty and value. Its exceptional sparkle naturally attracts your eye. However, diamonds are not naturally beautiful and valuable. They begin as the clear and colorless crystalline form of pure carbon and are formed into precious stones after millions of years of being under extreme pressure and in extreme temperature far below the earth’s surface. A diamond’s beauty and value, its great worth, comes from pressure, heat, time.

While colorless diamonds are considered the most valuable, diamonds exist in a range of colors due to impurities that occur during the formation process. For example, black diamonds come from graphite contamination, yellow diamonds from nitrogen contamination, and green ones from the mineral being exposed to radiation while still in the earth. Not only are diamonds beautiful, they have the highest thermal conductivity and hardness of any natural material, thus they can also be used for cutting and polishing.   

Have you ever felt like one of those crystals? You know, those moments when life is pressing in on you and you wonder if the pressure and the heat is more than you can endure. You cry out to God, asking why, often also begging, pleading, and even trying deal-making. You sense hopelessness and despair. Today, however, I propose this thought. Instead of asking “why,” how about asking, “God, what do you want to build into me through this trial? How are you forming me?”

Contrary to what many of us thought (or hoped) when we began following Jesus, we are not promised a struggle-free life. In fact, he tells us just the quite the opposite. In John 16:33, we find this less than hopeful words – “In this world you will have trouble.” (The Greek word used in this verse for trouble is “thlipsis” which literally means crushed, pressed, or squeezed as from a great weight.) While knowing that we will face many troubles all throughout life does not seem to be very hopeful, the entire verse is really one of great hope. Click here to read the verse in its entirety.

In the fourth chapter of Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul bares his soul regarding his struggles, his pain of being pressed and squeezed, But, in the midst of despair, Paul finds strength in Jesus. In vv. 8-9 we read these hopeful words – “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Those words are hopeful because in your pain Jesus reveals Himself to you. Those words are hopeful because through your pain Jesus is refining you. Those words are hopeful because out of your pain Jesus can bring beauty and value.

The Bible also tells us that it is during trials that we grow and mature. Not an easy thing to digest, but it is true. In James 1:2-4 we read this – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

A few verses later we see this – “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v.12). The crown of life referred to in this passage is not just referencing to eternal life, but rather, also life here and now, enjoyed abundantly and in greater fullness.

So, just as a diamond gets its beauty and value from pressure, heat, and time, God too can use those same things to form you into someone beautiful, someone of immense value, someone mature and complete, not lacking anything! Will you let him do so?   

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