Diamond

The motto of my high school is "Dare to be True"; I was failing to live up to it.  I felt like a poser.  I recognized that I behaved differently around different sets of friends and I felt like a phony.  I pined to God about my lack of authenticity.  His response: "Elise, you are a diamond."  Lord, did you mean to say dime (as in real cute)?  "You are a diamond.  When my light hits you it is refracted in different directions."

I received the revelation.  Now for the interpretation.  With those words, I heard God say that my different behaviors were not a reflection of a damaged personality; rather, I behaved differently because His light inside of me was reaching my friends, coworkers, and loved ones in different ways. I am reminded of Paul’s declaration:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 NIV)

Diamonds not only refract light, they also absorb it.  In my diamond state, I absorb His light.  It propels me to walk in peace and joy.  It propels me to pursue him.  I desperately seek my light source.  1 John 1:7 says "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."  Without a light source, I would be sitting in the dark.  There would be no light to refract and I would be hidden in the shadows and poverty of sin.  I brilliantly shine and relate to others by his light.

I could say more about the properties of a diamond.  I could tell you about its strength, lack of contamination, and its pressure-cooked perfection.  (If you are curious, Wikipedia has the scoop.)  Instead I will end with something I heard a conference. "There is a difference," Lisa Bevere said, "between something that is real and something that is authentic." She continued, "A cubic zirconia is real.  A diamond is authentic."