Diamonds – The Women Shaped by God
As I was having a conversation at bible study the other
night I had an epiphany or maybe it was a text that God sent into my head. If one doesn’t know the value of the diamond
that they are holding or maybe the diamond hasn’t been cut or polished
correctly to bring out the maximum sparkle.
Perhaps you are that woman.
Underneath the layers are all of these imperfections, that if handled
correctly, if you allow the master craftsman to cut and shape your life will be
beyond beautiful. For so long we as
women have torn ourselves apart due to our “flaws”. Maybe you feel like you are too loud or your
laugh is funny. Maybe it’s that you feel
too deep or think too deep. But wait…what
if the very things you think are flaws are the very things that God wants to
use to make you all the more beautiful and unique to the world? Let’s start at the very beginning of the
diamonds process. Before the cutting and
polishing begins the diamond looks merely like a piece of broken glass. To the untrained eye it could be discarded as
trash and nothing of value. Ladies, isn’t
that often times how we look at ourselves?
That we have nothing unique to offer the world. Nothing of value. We aren’t rare or beautiful or a thing to
behold. So we allow others to discard us
because in our core we believe that is what we are worth. Diamonds are known as being the single
hardest substance on earth. Let me be
candid for a moment and say that women are bad asses. They choose to completely lay their lives
aside for their families day in and day out.
Staying up long after the children go to bed just to make sure the last
load of laundry is done before the next day when the kids “need” their uniform
that they happened to forget to wash. Or
the moments when a mom has to put on the strongest face imaginable because her
child is bleeding but she has to calm the child first and foremost. My mind flashes to a dear friend of mine that
lost her husband in a helicopter accident, she herself is a helicopter pilot,
and she CHOSE to get back in a helicopter in a warzone to defend our country
AFTER she lost her best friend. She is a
badass. She is the toughest substance
known to man. Ladies, pat yourselves on
the back. You are a badass. You are a diamond.
So what makes the difference between a crystal
and a diamond? The cutting process is
critical in the making of the beautifully faceted gem we know as a
diamond. The cutting process seeks to
take advantage of the critical angle of total light reflection within the
faceted diamond to achieve the maximum amount of light return through the crown
facets. Wait, Naomi you lost me. Break that down please. So imagine if you will, God holding up a
crystal, holding it up to the sunlight and turning his head, examining every
angle to see which way refracts the most light.
Which angles shine brightest back at him. No two diamonds are the same. The goal in diamond cutting is to increase
the value of the stone to the marketplace.
God analyzes each of us and cuts us exactly where it is needed to shine
his light brightest into the world. Once
the stone is cut, it cannot be restored to its former state; thus the greatest
caution and the most skilled and expert professional judgment are needed. Have you ever had something that affected you
to your core. That you couldn’t possibly
go back to the old way of life even if you wanted to. Maybe it was a different way of
thinking. Maybe it was the weight of a
calling to a nation. Maybe it was a word
to pick up your family and move to a different location all for the promise of
healing. Once you cling to this there is
no going back. Once the direction of
splitting is determined, the diamond is ready to be marked (with a notch or
groove). In the past, a stone designated for marking was mounted onto a special
strong holder (called a dop) and cut with another diamond, to a depth that
permitted it to be struck sharply along the marked groove (by lightly tapping
the head of the cutting tool), thus splitting the gem. Once you agree to partner with God and allow
him to shape your life there is no going back.
This part of the process is oddly enough called diamond cleaving. Merriam-Webster has cleaving defined as to
adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. You have to allow yourself to be so tightly
attached to God that there is no other way that you can live. Sold out.
It is that moment that your market value increases. That what you have to offer the world
increases. In reality though it is not
the stone that people are willing to pay for but rather the skill that is put
into the stone by the master craftsman.
It isn’t you but what God is through all your imperfections that brings
the beauty. Perhaps that is what God
meant when he said "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.”, Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. So that in my flaws, my imperfections, God’s light can shine the brightest into the
marketplace. So that I can bring to the
world the unique completely beautiful work of God in my life. No longer will I hide my imperfections as
flaws but yet I will shine on. You my
dear are valued. God has held your heart
in his hands and examined every break and crack and weak point. He has figured out at what angle to cut you
and make you the most beautifully strong substance known to man. 