The origin of the phrase “a diamond in the rough” is unknown but has been in use since the 1600s. It refers to a person that has commendable qualities but lacks refinement. It’s a man that has praiseworthy character accompanied by some “rough edges,” which is applicable to Christians to be sure. Though the believer has a new heart and a new spirit, she is not yet perfected.
The roughness of a Christian’s edges varies but the method that God uses to file them down does not. God uses affliction to simultaneously knock down those prickly spots and reduce your emotional ties to this world. He is not a sadist. He does not take pleasure in causing pain, nor does He send adversity to “break” you. A father is not unloving when he requires his son to complete a difficult task and a coach is not uncaring when he sounds the whistle to require yet another sprint. The father has the child’s best interest is in mind just as the coach does the athletes’.
The foundational lesson in every tribulation is to teach you to shift your faith from yourself and this world to God and His will. He is transitioning your reliance from yourself to a reliance on Him. Thomas Watson wrote, “God would have the world hang as a loose tooth which, being easily twitched away, doth not much trouble us.” God is constantly at work in your life to loosen your grip on the temporary trappings of this world while tightening your grip on His eternal promises.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn. 2:16–17)
Do you see it? Chasing after the things that our flesh, eyes and pride long for are like polishing the brass on a sinking ship, while doing the will of God is an exercise that yields eternal results!
Of course, hardships come in all shapes and sizes, but one of the ways that God conforms believers more to the image of Christ is to take away something they love. Psalm 39:11, “When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath!” It is important to constantly evaluate what we love most. Is there anything in your life, if taken away, would make you bitter against God? Do you find your contentment in Him and in His plan (the one that includes a file for those sharp edges)?
When your allegiance is to God above everything else, it puts even your difficulties in their proper place. John Trapp wrote, “He that rides to be crowned need not think much of a rainy day.” Even if God chooses to take something away that you cherish, it is but a rainy day on your ride to receiving the crown of life. Yes, you are a diamond in the rough, but not as rough as you were before the last obstacle! Don’t despise the pain. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). Transition your faith from you to Him, from earthly circumstances to a heavenly plan, and know that when the chief Shepherd appears you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Cor. 4:7–12)