“The more a diamond is cut, the more it sparkles.” – F.B. Meyer
Diamonds are another amazing example of God’s creative power. Black carbon is plain, ordinary, and mostly overlooked. Then comes the transformation: pressure and heat. Not just a little pressure – fifty thousand times what we feel on the surface. And the heat? More than a thousand degrees Celsius.
It all happens deep within the earth, about 145
kilometres down. That’s where the hidden miracle begins. Unseen. Under strain
and fire.
Then the rough stone is pushed to the surface by the eruptive force of a volcano. When discovered, it glimmers faintly – just enough to hint at what’s possible. But even then, it isn’t finished. It needs the lapidary’s hand. Each cut, each tiny slice, releases more light. Fifty-eight facets. Weeks of patient work. And every cut matters.
Why am I writing this? It’s something most of us already
know.
Well, today I thought about the pressure I face every day, and it made me think of potential. We are all black carbon – ordinary to the eye. A little proud. A little rough around the edges.
We think the pressure we’re under – the heat of our problems and suffering, the things we didn’t want or ask for, the losses, the waiting, the chiselling moments that test us to the brink of insanity – surely must be too much.
We often say, I’ve had enough.
Yet, it isn’t over until our last breath escapes us.
And even then, since we don’t know what lies beyond
life on earth, perhaps the refining continues.
God keeps shaping. Cutting. Refining. Because He knows
us. Every edge He smooths, every flaw He removes, every sharp place He
reshapes, making us shine brighter.
So yes, we suffer. But it’s not wasted.
The same God who makes diamonds from carbon is shaping
character out of struggle – out of a life of imperfection and sin.
Job 5:9 – He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
Allow faith and patience to finish their work. Because when the process is done, you won’t just survive it. You’ll sparkle.
