Do you feel like you’re going through a particularly tough “polishing” process right now? Feel free to contact a mentor to pray with you!
“Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure;
genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.” 1 Peter 1:8
Two young women walked out of a meeting where they had listened to wise comments made by an older woman. “She is such a gem!” said one of the women. Her friend enthusiastically agreed.
Curious about what is included in the gem-making process, I did some research. Words such as cut, hammer, fracture, knock off, grind and drill were used to describe the means by which a rough stone is turned into a brilliant, light reflecting stone that can cost thousands of dollars.
I discovered that all gems are cut and polished by progressive abrasion using finer and finer grits of harder substances. After a stone has been sawed and hammered, ground and drilled, it is polished with further rubbing so that it will magnificently reflect light.
This description fits well with the process God uses in our lives to make us into “gems.” Lost jobs or promotions, illnesses, misunderstandings, broken relationships—all part of the sawing, hammering, grinding and drilling God allows in His loving determination to mold us into reflections of Christ.
We wonder at the process—how can God be loving and yet allow such pain? It is exactly that love we depend upon, especially during crises. When we make it a holy habit to learn more of the nature of our God, we are more apt to simply cry out, “Yes, Father,” knowing that we are gems in the making.
Lord, I want to be reflective of Jesus to a world around me desperately needing a glimpse of such heavenly light. Help me be willing to be a gem in the making.
Questions: Think about one person who has shined as a gem in your life? What about that reflection would you like to see in your own life?
About this Author: Marilyn J. Ehle
Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Let God’s Light Through, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog
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