Hard Pressed

        My mom’s wedding ring was a gold band with a single two-carat diamond. I thought that stone was the most beautiful thing on earth, the way it shined with all the colors of the rainbow in just the right light. I used to turn it around on her finger and ask if it ever got in her way. Did she take it off every time she washed her hands? What was it made of? She told me it was basically the same material as coal, just pressed harder. It was so hard, in fact, that our turntable had a diamond needle, so when my parents turned Carole King up nice and loud and the huge console shook our pier and beam house, the tiniest sliver of a diamond from deep in the ground was making that happen. In a way, I really was feeling the earth move under my feet.

One hectic day, every member of our family was involved in turning the house upside down, looking for that diamond solitaire. It had come loose from its setting, leaving nothing but little gold prongs reaching out for something to grab. We ransacked drawers, upset furniture, and dug out planters. We stripped the beds, shook out laundry and, yes, even inspected dog droppings. My mom continued searching, long after the rest of us gave up. She was heartbroken but decided it wasn’t meant to be and finally quit looking. Days went by, then weeks. Later, when my dad opened the sliding glass door that had been sticking for too long, he decided it was time to fix it once and for all. He took it off the track, oiled it, and started to put it back on when a kaleidoscope of brilliance hit my eye like a sunbeam. “It’s there! Mom’s diamond!” Sure enough, it was sitting in the track where it had apparently been the whole time. A local jeweler nestled it back into the prongs, and it was as good as new. 

The most amazing thing about that incident is that even after weeks of being stuck in the track with a heavy door grating back and forth over it, there was not a scratch on that diamond. As it turns out, that thing about diamonds being made from pressed coal is not entirely true, but it’s fair to say that coal and diamonds are both carbon based and that diamonds are created under intense heat and pressure. So, as this world heats up and we undergo pressures like never before, consider what God can do with us, carbon-based humans. Unlike a rock hidden deep beneath the earth’s crust, we have not been left alone to bear the burdens of this world. Jesus has promised to be with us. Have you ever noticed that some of the strongest people are the ones who have been through the worst situations? God can use anyone, but I imagine he finds those who stand up under the heat and pressure of this world especially useful. To gain strength through perseverance and be used by God may not be fun or glamorous, but it’s ultimately more beautiful and valuable than any diamond in the world.