I had a dream that I would be a diamond for the Lord,
a soldier in His army,
a bearer of His sword.
But I was born a piece of coal ‘fore Jesus came along,
not worth a lot and dirty too,
so many things were wrong.
Then trials and tribulation came that put me on my knees;
there seemed to be no end of pain
and I cried out, “Lord, please
Come heal my broken spirit, and make me what You will,
but do not let me suffer, Lord
or make me climb that hill!”
But how the pressure grew and grew ‘till I was sure I’d break
into a lot of pieces and
worth nothing for His sake.
I near forgot the promise that ourLord would never leave,
and just as I was going to quit,
He sent faith to believe.
It took a while to see a little sparkle in that coal,
but soon the sparkle grew and grew
until He filled my soul.
And then by grace it came from coal, a diamond for the Lord,
a soldier in His army,
a bearer of His sword.
Ralph E. Johnson
March 10, 1994
