Forged

Before modern warfare came about, wars were always fought with weapons that were forged by a blacksmith. They weren't mass produced in some factory but were hand crafted by a skilled expert. The metal was taken, heated to extreme temperatures, and then pounded into shape. After the metal was shaped as desired, it was then plunged into water to rapidly cool the metal. It was locked into shape to serve the one who wielded it.

God, the master blacksmith, uses the experiences we go through to transform us into a mighty tool in His hand. We just have to let Him complete His work on us. Our experiences and how well we deal with them forge us into the people we become.

Luckily, God is the most skilled at shaping us. He has an eternity of experience. In order to shape us He has to turn up the heat in our lives. Why? Because it's the only thing that will melt our stubborn wills into obedience.

When things are great, we often feel we have no need to seek His advice, His ways, or His plan. So He turns up the heat in hopes that our stubbornness and our pride will conform like steel.

Many times God has sought to turn a person into a weapon in His arsenal but the person would not conform, would not bend, and would not relinquish control.

I wish I could tell you that I always respond well to critics, tragedy, and frustrations thrown my way but I don't want to lie to you. Sometimes I'm not sure if I write these blogs to help others or for my own therapy.

Sadly we cannot choose our circumstances. It would be nice if we could make every day problem free, make the sun shine, the weather perfect, and all our relationships perfectly healthy but we can't. God made it that way on purpose though. He purposely put us in a place where we have to face unpleasantness. This is the environment that wills are broken, hearts are healed, and lives get transformed. There is no shortcut.

Circumstances and how we respond to them change us. It's sort of like a dog who was rescued from an abusive owner. Sometimes, the dog might will crouch down in front of men if a male owner hit him. Sometimes it might growl and stand alert because his traumatic experiences hard wired his brain into thinking that men are evil. The trauma changed him. That's what all of our circumstances and experiences do to us-they have a positive or a negative impact on us depending on how we handle it.

Now over time if the male owner were to treat the dog with love and care the dog can gradually come to trust men again. Likewise if we recognize the heart and intent of the Master we can trust His actions.

Do not despair because all of the grief you endure and all of the junk that goes on in your life today is for another purpose tomorrow. If we will trust the heart of the Blacksmith the heat you go through will not seem all that hot. You will be forged into something mighty that no other human can offer!