embedded slivers

Just rambling unedited thoughts.

I was thinking this morning about life. Do you ever feel like it never plays out like you expect? You know what I mean. You are planning, preparing, expecting life to play out as it should and then BAM. Its like a bomb has gone off in a small space. And the splinters of your dreams are buried deep in your skin and in awkward places.

You too? Well then walk with me for a bit then as we chat.... When was the last time you looked at a diamond? In a catalog. A store window. Your mom's wedding ring. Or an earring.

How would you describe it?
Beautiful?
Strong?
Rare?
Wonderful?
Valuable?
Brilliant?
Shining?

How about tested by fire?

Do you know what diamonds are? They are precious minerals made of carbon. Deep within the earth's crust, these minerals work their way up toward the earth's surface when gases and heat combine. Through phenomenal heat and pressure, diamonds are born.

It's only after they are tested by fire that they become so beautiful.

In the New Testament, in the book of Romans 5:3-5 it says,
This doesn't mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys - we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. These very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop mature character, and a character of this sort produces steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.

Now here is the thought...Have you ever felt pressured as if you were being squeezed from all sides?
Have you ever had a day that was so tough you felt as if you would be crushed?
Have you ever sat in a puddle of tears, raging against life, because it just seems that the pain is too much?
Have you have just said, ‘screw it. I can’t do this any more’?
Have you ever felt as though you were being tested by fire?

And then you read or hear some idiot say 'turn your lemons into lemonade' or 'whatever doesnt kill you will only make you stronger'.

How do YOU deal with the darkness of life? Do you hide? Drink? Eat? Shop? Avoid? Work? ...the list is long, cuz we have all found ways to cope.

Have you ever tried this thing call rejoicing? Actually choosing to be thankful? I know its a stretch...but in the middle of the pain, suffering and hard times, finding a way to express love?

I hear the voice of the Lord Jesus beckoning me, "Try it...just try rejoicing...you will grow brighter and stronger if you do!"

Why? cuz you...I...We are God's diamonds.

Yes. You.

God polishes you with His love, grace and mercy. And the pressure...the struggle...the trial...the resistance makes you stronger...they make you grow. They call you (or maybe force you) out of the dark, dirty, lonely places where you are left as a piece of coal.

The great question of course is, 'Is God doing this to me?' I will venture out on a limb and say NO. Life is hard. And unfair. And cruel at times. But it is only the precious love of Jesus that is able to take the worst that life throws at us and turn it into something redemptively beautiful.

Henri J. M. Nouwen writes,
In this crazy world, there's an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But in the eyes of God, they're never separated. Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom.

See with new eyes today. Because the Father of Lights, from whom everything good comes down from, is looking at you...and me...and saying:

You are rare.
You are strong.
You are brilliant.
You are valuable.
You are wonderful.
You are loved.
You shine.
You are beautiful.
Did you catch that? YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
If you will allow Me, I will use ALL things for your good...and you will shine forth, brilliantly reflecting My light.
You are chosen.

Can you feel Him rejoicing over you?
I can.

Needing Him,
j