Diamonds. 

People love them. They’re valuable, obviously.

But did you know that diamonds don’t start as diamonds. They start as simple carbon. So, how are they transformed?

Through pressure.

The same principle sometimes applies to humans. Difficulty and affliction—“pressure”—can often refine us into someone who is more faithful, humble, wise and strong.

The apostle Peter speaks to this in 1 Peter 1:6-7 when he says: “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Like diamonds, the pressure of affliction can change us. What if that change, although difficult, was actually making us more faithful, humble, wise and strong over the long haul?

When things are difficult, here’s a question that can re-frame our thinking: “How might these current hardships be refining me to more powerfully bless others in the future?”

If things are currently difficult, let me know and I’ll pray for you. I also encourage you to remain tethered to faithful sources of help and hope. But it can also be a good idea to remember that we worship and serve a God who can bring good out of bad.

How might these current hardships be refining you to more powerfully bless others in the future?

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–New blog and podcast episode: “Why I think we should say The Lord’s Prayer every day.” Click here, or listen on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.