Zachariah 4:10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.
The ‘diamond in the rough’ does not alter its worth and value. Experts say, “to the uneducated eye, rough diamonds look more like a shard of glass that can be found anywhere. They are dull, oily looking and come in many colors. Rough diamonds are revered for their pure, untouched natural state. It is difficult for the layman to know or understand the value of a rough diamond.”
Like a diamond in the rough, our worth and value does not change to God while we are in the making. In our spiritual journey to clean up our lives, we are still a rough and unfinished product. While we battle to overcome luring temptations, addictions, weakness and generational bloodline curses, we might look dull, oily and rough to the world around us but we are still ‘diamonds in the making’. This is why a prophet is not respected in his own city. But Jesus said to them, “There is no Prophet without honour except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own home” (Matthew 6:4).
People who watch us morph from a dull, dusty and rocky phony, to a profound preacher or prophet, struggle to change their perspective about us. To the Lord, the process is as important as the end product. It is the process that prepares us for the promotion, position and power. So, don’t despise the process of shredding, shaping and severing. The sharpness of the divine knife is necessary to transform us into the sparkling diamond that we are called to be.
Nothing is an accident in a Christian’s Life. Even if we have made a mess with our own wrong decisions and spiteful choices, God will use the muddle to fashion our rough and raggedy edges. The lessons that we’ve learnt from the hurtful relationships, bossy managers and challenging crisis are tools that tidy the raw diamond. Don’t be stubborn but surrender to the slicing and shaping of the Holy Spirit.
Diamond in the Rough:
1. Rough: The sharpness or carelessness in our tongue will be smoothened when we are slandered, despised and criticized by those whom we love. When the words of people cut into our heart, remember, the rough edges of the diamond are shaped.
2. Rugged: The touchiness and oversensitivity will be evened and leveled by incidents that jolt us in the journey of life. A jagging diagnosis or a prognosis, a dilemma or predication is simply a test of our authenticity and our trust on the Saviour more than our ‘self’.
3. Rebuff: Without cutting a raw diamond will remain rough, dull and useless. Similarly, the rejections and disappointments that cut and hurt our hearts are the divine tools that make us shine, glitter and glisten.
The diamond in the rough is still as valuable as the glamorous diamond on the shelf. You and I are diamonds in the rough and diamonds in the making.
Malachi 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver”.
Prayer: Father in Heaven, I don’t want to remain rough and raw. Please help me to submit to the cutting, shaving and polishing to become a glowing diamond. Amen.
Leave a Reply