The Beauty of Brokenness

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11"





"Everybody wants to be a diamond but very few are willing to get cut." Likewise, so many people want to be used by God but very few are willing to be broken.

To become like that beautiful diamond there's a process that we have to go through in Christ. There's going to be some pain, pressure, and discomfort. Let me explain a little more in detail... The journey of a diamond is a long and complex process. Diamonds are formed deep inside the Earth, they are mined and sorted, they are polished and cut, they are delivered to labs for grading and then finally, they are sold to jewelry stores around the world.  After doing some research I found these amazing facts:

A diamond is just carbon (essentially the same thing as charcoal) in a very concentrated form. Yet, when mined, cut, and polished, it becomes the most precious gemstone in the world. Diamonds are formed about 161 km (100 miles) below the Earth’s surface, when carbon is subjected to a temperature of at least 400°C (752°F) and 435,113 pounds per square inch (psi) or 30 kilobars of pressure. Where diamonds are formed, the pressure exceeds 700,000 psi and temperatures over 1200°C (2192°F).



As we try to imagine the extreme temperature and pressure under which diamonds are formed, it brings to mind the fiery trials which us children of God must undergo to develop true godly character.   
1 Peter 1:6-7 describes the beautiful outcome of being tested by God’s fire. It says:

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."


The process to refining a diamond is:

1) Mining

2) Crushing/Separating

3) Greasing/Cutting

  

Just like Diamonds have to go through a long hard process before they are made beautiful; so do we. Like a diamond we Christians also have to go through that same process if you really think about it... We go through the mining, crushing, separating, greasing, and cutting.

Let me elaborate a little more on that. There are different types of mining but I'm just going to touch on the basics of it. According to scientists the mining process is a very long process. This process

consists of locating possible diamond deposits and their retrieval from all over the world. Just as a diamond has to go through that process so do we Christians; during the (mining) process in lives, God searches for us just as it says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

John 4:23 it says: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

John 19:10 says: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." All through the Bible we can see that God was seeking, pursuing and chasing those who were broken, hurt, lost, sick, etc...It's within His nature to be a seeker; it's who He is. It always amazes me to know that a God that owns the whole world, has everything, and can have anyone He wants, He came to search for me! How loving is that!!

The next process that a diamond has to go through is the crushing/separation process, which is another long process. This process begins with crushing and/or milling the material. The purpose of this is to separate the diamond from all the other material. The conglomerate is placed into a large crushing machine and smashed until the crystals are released. After the crushing process there's the separation process that includes the washing of the diamonds. We as humans/Christians hate this process of our lives because it involves pain. This is what I like to call the dry season, the season after God has found you and you gave your life to Christ and all of a sudden friendships start ending, ungodly (dating) relationships began to fail, people you thought would be there for you all the time start to walk out of your life, and you don't understand why and God is quiet, He's not giving you answers... and you're just left torn, crushed, isolated. This season that I just describe is the crushing process, where God has to have you go through some things, some discomfort, some hurt/pain to separate us from certain people, places, and things in our life that are hindering our walk with Him and because He is trying to take us somewhere that not everyone in your life can go. 2 Corinthians 4:8 says "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  After being crushed God washes us with His word. This season of our life is not meant to hurt you, it's meant to grow you in God, so that you can depend on Him, cry out to Him, talk to Him, build a relationship with Him. Don't allow the enemy to fill your head with lies about how "If God loved you than... this and/or that shouldn't have happened" No. ALL of God's ways are perfect, we may not comprehend it but we can trust that His ways are higher than our ways, and that His thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The next process that a diamond has to go through is the greasing/cutting process. During this process diamonds are being recovered. The diamonds are placed on a greasing belt, and are caught in the grease and move up the belt as they are washed down the belt by water. After that a blade scrapes the diamond-bearing grease off the belt and into an 85C melting tank. The diamonds drop out of the melted grease and are recovered.






Before diamonds become beautiful jewels, they must be cut and polished by hand or machine using steel or diamond blades or laser. The cut diamond is then polished by a rotating wheel coated with an abrasive diamond powder. God’s purpose is to refine and perfect us. He will use whatever means necessary to bring us to the point of being “a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). There's something beautiful about being broken. Though it is painful, you become clay in the Potter's hands to mold and use. The process is painful, but the result is rewarding!

Are you willing to endure the pressure, the cutting, and the polishing of the Master Jeweler to bring out the diamond within you?  In order to use you; God has to fix you, which means breaking you. 

God is able to do the most work in broken things/areas of our lives... remember that God breaks each and every one of us in His own way and when He breaks us, it's always to put us back together again...stronger and wiser! 

I read this quote the other day "What was meant to break you ends up making you"- Rick Warren

God can take your ashes (your past, your mistakes, your failures, your brokenness, your pain) and turn them into something beautiful! He can use you; ALL of you!

I pray that you all stay encouraged and endure the process and allow God to break you and make you into the beautiful masterpiece/diamond that He created you to be to shine for His glory!!! :)

Love your sis in Christ,

Joy J. <3