Be a Diamond

This morning I was struck with a profound thought. Doesn't happen often but when it does, it happens at just the right time in my life. It seems as though I am surrounded by people dealing with pressure, myself included. My friends, my family; day in and day out. Pressure! This week I have expressed how much pressure I am under getting ready for the Fiesta. I have had a sweet friend express how hard it is to be a mother of small children in this day and age. The competition between young moms is ridiculous. I have another dear friend that is ready to give up Facebook because of the pressure it is causing in her life. People are ruthless when they can hide behind a computer screen and spew hate and discord. Cowards to the very core. And even a member of my family that is having to deal with a lot of pressure at their job, too much to accomplish with not enough time or resources to get the job done. I have a sweet friend just diagnosed with cancer who has begun the fight of her life. My list could go on and on and on. It seems that everyone I know is dealing with pressure.

Now here is where my profound thought comes in. Bare with me here. Pressure is a tool. That sounds wrong but it is so right! Pressure, even though it is not an actual object, is a tool. And here's the real kicker; pressure is one of the tools most often used by Satan AND by God! They both use pressure to mold us. Satan uses pressure to bend us, to break us, to make us give up and beg for mercy. It causes us pain and torture. It makes us lash out and sin to get away from it. Satan uses it to try to conform us to his will for he hopes to keep us from Seeing God.

God uses pressure in the same exact way. God allows the pressure that Satan is throwing around to bend us and break us, to make us give up and beg for mercy. He allows it to cause us pain and torture.

Both of them are using pressure as a tool. Both of them are hoping for the same result. But there is one HUGE difference in the way that they are using this tool. Our faithful Father sent the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts. He sent us protection against Satan's tactics. Therefore, even though they use the same exact tool for the same exact reason, they will get 2 very different outcomes. Where as Satan uses pressure, his results will become a fossil, a dried, compressed, hardened reminder of a life no longer of this earth. But when God uses pressure, he allows us to become Diamonds! A new creation, sparkling, beautiful, indestructible and sought after by the entire world! All because He gave us the Holy Spirit to protect us from the pressure.

I urge all of us to look at the pressures we face today. Remember that it won't be easy, it won't be quick and it won't  be painless but it will be so worth it in the end! Fight the good fight and become the diamond God intended you to be!