Shaped by a Jeweller

I’ve been thinking… and that’s scary :) Why does it take so long to actually listen to what God is trying to tell us? It seems like we are holding onto something and we know it is not healthy for our lives but we want to keep it. We are hurt if we don’t have it. God has been challenging me to give up certain things that are not necessarily bad, but are unhealthy for me. I know God will ask of us to get rid of different things in our lives and it is hard to let go but when you come to a point where nothing else matters except God this is when you decide to let go. It always seems that we leave it to the point when we can no longer take it; no longer live the way we are living. A lot of us have heard is preached from the stage yet we still don’t grasp what is being asked of us. I have heard an analogy. When you buy a diamond ring you see it for its beauty but you don’t see what it has been through.

First it has been separated from the rest of the group and is cleaned. This cleaning is not just an easy washing, someone had to scrub away the dirt. This rock has started out the size of a golf ball, how did it get to the size of a 1 carat diamond? The edges had to be cut away, these edges were not bad but it was necessary for the purpose of the stone. The stone is shaped and polished and in time it becomes a beautiful piece of jewelry. The stone would not have fit into the clasp on the ring until it had been shaped. This is what is happening to us, to me. God has an amazing purpose and for us to be able to “fit” we to have to be shaped, scrubbed, polished. This process hurts but the final product is beautiful!

I want to encourage all who read this that even though you may be going through a tough time the final product is worth it.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me will all your heart.”