A Diamond in the Making
Week Thirty-one
July 27, 2025
… and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
— Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
You are a diamond in the making.
Did you know that there are basically four factors involved in the formation of a diamond? A “woman’s best friend” is formed with intense pressure, intense heat, carbon, and time. With a little imagination, a metaphorical connection between a diamond’s formation and our sanctification can be drawn. Beauty is a process, you might say.
Your trials come with a purpose, your temptations with a reward. The words, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” have been repeated at many funerals, but God turns this around by saying, ashes to beauty, dust to diamonds. I think it bears repeating - he brings forth beauty from our ashes, and out of the dark dust of dead things, he forms diamonds. From dead bones, dry and bleached, he brings life; he brings promise; and he brings hope. Hope. Isn’t that the name of a diamond? Forgive me, my metaphor-making mind is running overtime.
The pressure we feel under our trials can seem unbearable, almost impossible to endure at times. Yet trials serve a divine purpose: they seed assurance and build confidence and hope in the gift of eternal life he’s given us, the gift promised by God. So, do not lose heart. The hard press you feel on every side will not crush you - it is meant to form you. And yes, it will be worth it.
And the intense heat? It is a refining fire that brings forth the “fourth man”, Jesus, in our lives. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, Jesus is with us in the fiery furnace of our trials. He is the refiner’s fire. Our trials heat us up like gold being purified so that the Master Refiner can scoop the drossy debris from our lives and leave us a purer reflection of him, a reflection others can gaze into.
And what about the carbon? Well, that’s us, our humanness, our natural state. Carbon has been called the basic building block of life. You could say, it is what our frame is made of. And he knows our frame; that it sometimes fails and is often frail. Yet, without this element (whose atomic number is, interestingly, six, the number of the day on which God created man), a diamond would not exist.
God’s creation was created with intent and purpose, and it is our destiny, as his people, to become diamonds, precious jewels in the hands of our God. For now, we endure until the trial is over. Waiting is hard, isn’t it? I haven’t mentioned the time element involved in the formation of a diamond, but it plays a crucial part in the process. The time it takes to form a diamond varies, and the diamond has no idea how long it will remain in its cavernous incubator. And neither do we. We’ll look at that in more detail this week. Yes, you’ll have to wait.
Monday
July 28, 2025
All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
— Ecclesiastes 3:20 (BSB)
“Under the sun.” We must remember those three words as we read the instructions of the “Teacher” written down in Ecclesiastes. From a human temporal perspective, we all end up in the grave. Not cheery, I know, but true “under the sun.” Yet, our perspective is no longer limited to human seeing, for now we walk by faith, not by our limited sight and understanding. And by faith, may you see this: what you are going through right now is not meant to break you, but to build you - to make you, as the child’s nursery rhyme goes, “like a diamond in the sky.” Diamonds may be formed from carbon, but they end up looking nothing like their raw material. And so with you. The new you, the you in the making, will look nothing like the dark and dusty old you.
Do you think God had in his mind the formation of a diamond out of carbon dust when he created man from the dust of the earth? What do you think God sees when he sees you?
If a diamond, which is natural and will perish, can be formed from a base element, what kind of possibilities are open for what God can make you into? And why would God want to make something beautiful, valuable, and treasured out of you?
Tuesday
July 29, 2025
This is what the sovereign LORD says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath into you and you will live. I will put tendons on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'
— Ezekiel 37:5,6 (NET)
You may know what it feels like to walk through the valley — the dry, dark, seemingly lifeless low places. You may be feeling that way now. Please allow this to encourage you: God dwells in those places and God works in those places. His Spirit brings life to the formation process he has you in, enabling his work in you to bear fruit. I invite you to set aside your striving and let him do his work. And here’s another invitation, an invitation to those who know what it is to walk through life’s dry and dark valleys: would you pray for those who find themselves traveling that valley? I believe you’ll know exactly how to pray.
What encouragement could you offer to someone who feels like the dry bones described in Ezekiel’s vision? Have you ever experienced this type of “valley” in your life?
How does this scripture apply to us today? What does it say about the God who works in people’s lives?
Wednesday
July 30, 2025
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
— Romans 5:3,4 (NLT)
God uses our experiences as building blocks; you might call it his “layered improvement plan.” On Christmas day, 2021, I was admitted into the hospital with COVID-19. I had contracted it the week before. My wife and I had prayed that if the Lord wanted me to go to the hospital, he would make it happen. And he did. That Christmas morning I passed out in the bathroom. The ambulance came and brought me to the hospital where I lay feeling helpless for five days. But God brought me home; he rescued me. And this I know: my God who brought me into the hospital, brought me out of the hospital, and he is the same God who will bring me safely to my eternal home. I know that because he gave me hope through my trial.
Share an experience in your life where God built your faith through a trial. Did that experience impact how you navigated subsequent trials?
What effect does hope have on a person’s countenance? Where else in scripture do we see God promise hope in the midst of trials?
Thursday
July 31, 2025
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
— Daniel 3:25a
Much like the intense heat that destroyed Nebuchadnezzar’s guards, so the fiery ordeals we face work to strip off the “old guard” of our flesh and human strength. And in our furnace of affliction we, like Nebuchadnezzar, will see one like a “son of the gods” standing with us: Jesus, the fourth man. He is the one who stood with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and he stands with you as well. Our trials bring forth the image of Christ in us to the extent that we let them. And the good news? We are not burned as we go through our fiery trials; we are renewed!
Why do you think scripture relates trials to fire? What are some of the effects our trials can have on us?
In what ways does Jesus show up in our struggles and suffering? Have you been through a trial recently that has helped you to grow in your relationship with Christ?
Friday
August 1, 2025
On that day the LORD their God will save them
as the flock of His people;
for like jewels in a crown
they will sparkle over His land.
— Zechariah 9:16 (BSB)
He is the God who was, who is, and who will be. He has been at work in your life, is at work in your life, and will be at work in your life. Can I ask you to stop right now and look back over your shoulder and take a glance over your life? What do you see? I’ll tell you what I see: a jewel in the making. You were made to affect the lives of others. When you look at a wedding engagement post on Facebook, what do you typically see? The Fiancé’s hand extended, the diamond on display, the engagement ring takes center stage. You are placed where God has placed you to show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into the “light of his glory and grace.” A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
How would you define the word “sparkle” in our scripture today? What is the significance of that as applied in your life?
How do you feel about this statement, “God loves to show you off?” Do you see any eternal implications in this scripture?