“See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.-Isaiah 54:16-17, NIV
A lump of metal is just a lump of metal without going through the fire and forge.
The raw ingredients are there. But it must be purified and hammered into a shape before it is transformed into an instrument fit for service.
This is true of metal as well as true for humans in their spiritual transformation for God’s purposes.
For those new to this blog, my fiery experience included being abandoned, discovering infidelity, getting divorced, and undergoing an ecclesiastical trial where my character was under question for being divorced by an admitted cheater.
These two verses from Isaiah were given to me years prior to my “forging” experience.
Job went through a forging experience. As we read in his namesake book, he lost all his children, his wealth, and his health.
Often people confuse dross or impurities being beaten off by difficult circumstances as the cause for those circumstances. They are not!
Just like Job, God hammered off some dross and impurities in me during my fiery, forging experience. But those impurities did not cause the fiery experience. A sinful cheater did.
God merely redeemed the awful situation!
Without going through my fiery experience, I probably would not have become a professional chaplain. Certainly, I would not be able to speak with such authority on adultery and divorce as I am today. There would be no Divorce Minister today without such an experience.
The fiery forging experience made me fit for service as Isaiah states.
The prophecy was true…for me and perhaps…for you as well.
God knows how He will redeem your fiery experience in shaping you for His future awe-inspiring purposes!
*A version of this post ran previously. God continues to redeem this experience for fruitful ministry flowing out of my life. He is able to redeem all things even if we do not see it while in the “Smith’s” fire.
