Diamonds of Dust
By David Berg
God put on a light show the other day, and we were there to see it. He said a lot of things, too, and we tried to listen. I'm sure He must have shown it before, but we were all too busy to watch. Watch with us this time--maybe you'll see even more.
If you were a businessman, or a frantic housewife, or a hurried student, you wouldn't spend an hour in the morning watching the sun coming in the window. If you did, they might put you in the nuthouse!
God let three tiny rays of light beam their way into our room--not through the shutter, obstructing the light, but through tiny peepholes, letting it in. The smaller the hole, the more perfect the image, the more accurate the projection it reflects. The smaller you are, the clearer people can see Him.
The rays were many different colors--all showing a different color of His light--but the same light; different gifts, but the same Spirit, each one reflecting in his own way the light of God, each one letting his light shine, showing his particular kind of works to cause men to glorify the beauty of God (1 Corinthians 12:4).
Hold your hand up. The light shines right through it; you can see the blood and bones. Nothing is hidden in His eyes.
The thinner you are, the more the light gets through. The less there is of you, the more the light shines through.
We're like little rays of light in this city that's so dark. Even a few rays of light can make some kind of impression. Don't ever think that because there's so much darkness, it's no use to have just a little light, because even one candle can be seen a mile away when it's dark.
Even a grain of dust, as small as it is, can sparkle like a diamond, if it will get in the sunshine--if the room is dark enough. The greater the darkness, the brighter the light. A little diamond of dust or a little ray of sunshine shows up best when the room is very dark, because, "where iniquity doth abound, grace doth much more abound" (Romans 5:20).
But what you see when you see the flame of a candle is not the fire itself, but the tiny glowing particles, made white-hot by the heat of His love. You're not actually seeing the light at all, because the light is invisible. It can only be seen in the reflections of all those little diamonds of dust. You don't dare look right at the sun; it will blind you, because "no man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18) and lived; you only can see its reflection in the things that it shines on.
People can only see God as we reflect Him, like little diamonds of dust. They can't look at God, because He's too bright; He blinds them. They have to look at us to see God in our reflection of Him. God's light can only be seen if you reflect it. People can only see God in you as you reflect Him. So, "let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). If the dust weren't there, you couldn't see the light, and if the light weren't there, you couldn't see the dust. It takes both.
You may never see the little diamond of dust again, for some of them just flow into the light, sparkle for a moment, and then vanish back into the darkness. They only have their moment of truth. But if only once in its life it scintillates with the light of the Lord, it's worth it. Even if only once in its life, it is life and joy to someone, it's worth it. But if it could stay in the Lord's light, it could sparkle its life out to the end, like one candlestick gives light to the whole house until it is finished. The longer that little grain of dust stays in the light, the longer it shine--and the longer it stays a diamond.
For they can sparkle so short a while, and then they're gone, like a man's life, like the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is gone (Matthew 6:30). For what is your life? It's but a vapor--a vapor that reflects His rays of light for a little while, and then it's gone (James 4:14). You have no guarantee of tomorrow. You'd better sparkle now while you have the light, or you'll fade into oblivion and no one will know you even existed, because no man ever saw the light reflected in you shining through you. You never came to the light that your deeds might be made manifest that they were of God (John 3:21).
The path of the light you see is very straight and very narrow. It only shines in one direction, and its source is only in one direction. So there is only one way to the source. You've got to follow that way or you won't make it. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). He's the only way. Only in Him is there light--the straight and narrow beam that points to the love of God, to the Son of God's love. And unless you get in the beam of love, you'll never shine; for "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6).
Think how much God can show you from even a little beam of light, if you're just simple and childlike enough to appreciate it, to look and to listen. "Except ye be as a little child, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:3).
To learn from the Lord, you have to stop, look, and listen, or you'll get run over by all the cares of this life, instead of running over with His truth, His love, and His joy. You'll be overcome by the world instead of overcoming the world through Him.
Stop, look, and listen--to the light--and let your dust become diamonds that show the beauty of God!
If you're too busy or you're in a hurry, you'll never learn anything. The Bible says, "full of their own doings--their own things" (Judges 2:19).
Watch the diamonds of dust. They don't try to sparkle and shine; they just let the light shine through them. They don't try to work to shine or move. They're not trying to get anywhere; they're not in a hurry. They just float so quietly on God's air, and only get stirred up when He blows up a storm. But even then, they settle back into their place when it's over.
Stop, look, listen, and become a diamond of dust.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).