“You’re a little rough around the edges.”
Country singer John Anderson once sang a song called “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal.” But the following line spoke of how he would be a diamond someday. The meaning of diamonds in the rough or a little rough around the edges is “someone of good character who lacks social graces.”
We can learn a lot from the process of where diamonds originate. A diamond is carbon dioxide produced from decaying organic matter, buried one hundred miles beneath the earth, heated to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, squeezed under 725,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, and then quickly rushed to the earth’s surface to cool. This process takes millions of years or more. The carbon itself forms coal in its solid form, and that’s what is transformed into a diamond. Simply put, a diamond is no more than a chunk of coal made good under pressure.
Coal is primarily a fuel and is among the cheapest minerals. Jesus thought enough of us to die for us. Just as the coal began with dying organic matter, our salvation results from Christ’s death. The pressures and fiery trials we endure make us more durable and able to withstand more pressure. A diamond is only a piece of coal until it has been exposed to fire and pressure over time. Then it is durable and ready for cutting and polishing.
We will never be the showpiece or have the shine God wants us to have until we’ve been through fiery trials and withstood the pressures of life (Isaiah 43:2). Like a diamond, we will one day be taken out of the fire and quickly taken up to heaven, where God will change us into the masterpiece He intends—a trophy of His grace.
Just as a piece of coal under pressure becomes the world’s most treasured gem, we will be the treasure of heaven with unsurpassed beauty, the bride of the Lamb of God.
Andy is a published multi-award-winning author with devotions appearing on the Christian Devotions website as well as the CBN website. He is a contributing author in the Starr Ayers/Stephanie Pavlantos book Room at the Table. Currently, he is working on his first novel and is assembling a book of inspirational Scripture-based short stories along with moral, personal, family, and comical stories. Andy is the founder and director of H.O.P.E. Ministries in Candler, NC. While operating primarily as a food ministry, they also provide backpacks, Easter baskets, and Christmas shoebox gifts to crisis pregnancy centers, domestic violence shelters, schools, government agencies, and other ministries. They also provide disaster relief and aid for unwed mothers and their children.