“Diamonds
Are
Created
Fifty
Miles
Below
The
Surface
Of The
Earth.”
I read
the
headline
and
cringed.
Imagine
the
pressure.
Imagine
the
darkness.
Imagine
the
isolation.
Imagine
the
distance
from
anyone
who
would
ever
appreciate
the
grueling
process
or even
discover
that
they
were
there.
And all
the
while,
the
refining
goes on
interminably
until an
outside
force
declares
“That’s
enough”
and the
release
and
retrieval
of the
stones
begins.
The
master
craftsman
cuts
away the
impurities
and
imperfections
and
begins
the
arduous
process
of
faceting,
so that
at every
possible
angle,
light is
reflected.
The
final
polish
produces
a
diamond
as
nearly
perfect
as any
jewel on
earth
and
certainly
more
universally
loved
than any
other.
And so
it is
with
Christians.
Those
who
suffer
the
greatest
pressure,
the most
agonizing
trials,
the
severest
losses,
the most
mind-numbing
isolation
and the
most
debilitating
infirmities,
are
being
carefully
formed
in that
unbearably
lonely
terrain
by the
One who
Himself
crafts
His
saints,
His
diamonds,
the
darlings
of His
care.
Corrie
Ten
Boon,
whose
family
hid the
Jews
from
encroaching
Nazis,
was one
of these
diamonds.
When her
so-called
treason
was
discovered
by the
Nazis,
Corrie
and her
sister
were
incarcerated
in a
prison
camp
where
Corrie’s
sister
died as
a result
of
injuries
inflicted
by Nazi
prison
guards.
Corrie’s
account,
which
was
later
made
into a
major
motion
picture,
reveals
the
loneliness,
isolation,
suffering,
pressure
and
darkness
of a
diamond-in-the-making.
Her
submission,
her
faith
and
trust in
Almighty
God, her
willingness
to have
the
dross
repeatedly
cut away
from her
life,
permitted
her to
finally
emerge
as a
diamond
ready
for the
final
faceting
and
polishing.
We who
are
still in
the
process
admire
and
emulate
her.
The
Apostle
Paul, a
devoted
follower
of
Christ,
was not
spared.
His
beatings,
his
loneliness,
his
incarcerations,
his
vilification,
his
suffering,
his
prolonged
illness,
his
isolation,
all
became
part of
the
faceting
process
which
shaped
him into
a model
for
Christian
behavior
for all
time.
God
never
promised
not to
give us
more
than we
think we
can
endure;
indeed,
His
children
have
more
often
than not
been
subjected
to pain
and
suffering
way
beyond
their
endurance.
But
there is
comfort
in
knowing
these
words:
Never
doubt
me,
please
don't
fret,
I’ve
never
left My
children
yet.
Remember,
child,
that you
can rest
And
trust in
me to do
what’s
best.
My
reasons
seem
obscure
to you,
But
there
are
things
that I
must do
To make
you,
child,
more
like My
Son,
And only
I’ll
know
when
that’s
done.
I’ll see
you
through;
I know
the way
Will
seem so
hard,
but this
I’ll
say:
Your
very
soul is
safe
with Me
For now
and for
eternity.
The
Master
Craftsman,
with a
painful
but
loving
chisel,
is busy
at work.
And we
can
trust
not only
His
timeless
skill,
but His
flawless,
finished
product.
Mariane
Holbrook
http://www.marianholbrook.com/index.html