When life gives you lemons, make lemonade right? It is what comes out when a lemon is pressed. You must excerpt a certain amount of external pressure for it to cave in. Once it caves in, what was hidden inside comes out. Similarly, a diamond is formed through a certain amount of external pressure. Despite this, the pressure is what forms the diamond. It makes it stronger. To the point that a diamond is one of the hardest rocks found.

In this book Peter speaks a whole lot about external pressures. He talks about holiness as a result of suffering and persecution. He even goes as far as to say that those who suffer in the flesh cease to sin for, they understand and can identify with Christ. That there is no moment that we look more like Christ than when we are suffering. Despite all this, suffering is something that in our culture is seen as extremely negative. It is seen as something that you should avoid at all costs and at times even seen as God’s hand. Biblically, this is not the case. The disciples in fact learn to rejoice in their suffering for it proved that they are following Jesus. Completely different understandings.

What a great honor it is to be able to identify with Christ. This happens through suffering. I am not saying that you should go out into the world looking for ways to suffer, but I am saying that maybe we should change our perspective on suffering. We might see that the external pressure may make us cave in like a lemon juice, but if you learn how to suffer it will make you stronger like a diamond. To learn how to suffer is to learn how to use the external pressures to form us and push us further into holiness.

I want to end with 5 Peter 10 “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”