"Pain is dysfunction leaving the body..." - How People Grow. When a master cutter sits down to cut a diamond, he must keep in mind the amount of pressure and the angle of each cut that goes into the process. It is tedious work. It is work that requires great skill and patience. The diamond, as it is being chiseled to perfection, loses parts of its original self in order to shine its brightest, and hold the greatest amount of value, light, and clarity as possible.
As God takes our imperfect lives and chisels them with his masterful hands, we most assuredly will feel the pain of his cut and the intensity of his pressure. Yet, with each painful touch, something dysfunctional is cut away; the sickness and imperfections of our lives removed so that the brilliance of God's presence can be seen more clearly through us.
The discomfort of growth can almost cause us to halt or stunt the process. We forego beauty and value for relief and temporary comfort. This is sad. This brings nothing but more pain...more dysfunction.
God is perfection. The ultimate in beauty and radiance. The more he chisels away the impurities of our lives, the more we are made perfect in him. No...I'm not saying we will be perfect, but it is Christ in us that will be perfected.
I Corinthians 13:10 "When perfection comes, the imperfect disappears."
When the perfect Christ comes into our imperfect lives, the process of chipping away the old begins and continues throughout our lives.
It is Christ being made perfect in me that I long for. I realize this desire comes at a price. It comes at the hands of the Master Cutter. He takes the rough diamond of my life, holds it in his hands, and begins the process of perfection. While I can't say I take joy in the pain, I can say that the loss of dysfunction and flaws will one day be a testimony of God's faithful handiwork in me.
Chiseled to perfection.