Praise God for the
hammer, the file, and the furnace!
"Let's think about that for a bit......
The hammer is a useful and handy instrument. It is an essential and helpful tool, if nails are ever to be driven into place. Each blow forces them to bite deeper as the hammer's head pounds and pounds.
But, if the nail had feelings and intelligence, it would give us another side of the story. To the nail, it only knows the hammer as an opponent. To the nail, the hammer is a brutal, relentless master - an enemy who loves to beat it into submission, to beat it down and out of sight and clinch it into place. That is the nail's view of the hammer. It is correct. Except for one thing. The nail tends to forget that both it and the hammer are held by the same workman. The workman decides whose "head" will be pounded out of sight.....and which hammer will be used to do the job.
This decision is the sovereign right of the carpenter. When the nail has surrendered to the will of the workman and has gotten a little glimpse of his benign plans for its future it will yield to the hammer and its resentment will fade as it also yields to the carpenter without complaint.
The file is more painful still, for its business is to bite into the soft metal, scraping and eating away the edges till it has shaped the metal to its will. Yet the file has, in truth, no real will in the matter, but serves another master, as the metal also does. It is the master and not the file that decides how much shall be eaten away, what shape the metal shall take, and how long the painful file shall continue. Let the metal accept the will of the master and it will not try to dictate when or how it shall be filed.
The metal endures the rasp of the file and the blast of the furnace. If the metal forgets that it and the tools are objects of the same craftsman's care, it will build up hatred and resentment.
The metal must keep in mind that the craftsman knows what he is doing.............and he is doing his best.
As for the furnace, it is the worst of all. The furnace is ruthless and savage, it leaps at every combustible thing that enter it. It never relaxes its fury until it has reduced it all to shapeless ashes. All that refuses to burn is melted to a mass of helpless matter without will or purpose of its own. When everything is melted that will melt and all is burned that will burn, then and not until then the furnace calms down and rest from its destructive fury.
Heartaches and disappointments are like the hammer, the file, and the furnace. They come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they come on the scene suddenly and other times they appear over the passings of many months. Sometimes God uses a hammer (at least it feels that way) and sometimes he uses a painful file. Although not quite so often, yes, God may even allow the use of a furnace.
As drawn out as suffering, heartaches and disappointments can be at time, one thing we must always remember......the Master, our Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. He knows your breaking point. Though at times it may seem like He has abandoned you, He will never leave your side. The bruising, crushing and melting process is designed and being allowed to reshape you, not to ruin you.
Stand fast!
Has God brought a hammer into your life lately? Is He working away with a file? Do you feel like you are in the furnace right now? God's hand is in your heartache! Yes it is! If you weren't important, do you think He would take this long and work this hard on your life? Know that it is Christ Himself who is working out His great plan in your life so that you might be mature and complete, and that you in turn might enjoy a greater relationship with Him. Remember - nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:38-39). "
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.