Sometimes it feels as though life constantly forces us to trade in one blessing for another. The quintessential “two steps forward, three steps back” conundrum that keeps our minds spinning and our hearts unsettled. The truth of the matter is that Satan is always waiting in the wings to take advantage of any opportunity to keep us from enjoying the blessings God brings to our lives. At the same time, he wants to convince us that we have been abandoned by our Heavenly Father. In one of my favorite Psalms, David writes, “The Lord is near to the heartbroken and He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin). Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, but the Lord rescues him from them all.” Psalm 34:18-19.

The difficult part for us to handle as fallible human beings, is that our rescue may not look the way we envision. In one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs, he sings, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” There is a great deal of truth to this, but because we don’t share God’s omniscient view of our lives, it is often hard for us to accept that NOT getting what we want is the best outcome.

Still, we are told to hope and continue to seek out and ask for what we desire in this life. I am learning to ask God to reveal the truth about my own desires…I want to know if what I am asking for is what HE wants for me. This can bring on a different kind of challenge. When I am continually getting confirmation that the desires of my heart are righteous, I struggle to wait patiently for resolution. I’ve often heard (and said) that anything truly worth having is worth waiting for, especially when the waiting is hard work.

Last year I worked with a good friend to forge a kitchen knife for my dad’s Father’s Day gift. There was pounding of glowing red hot metal, grinding, hand sanding, wood shaping, and more. The metaphor for life in this process is astounding. We all start out as unformed, raw material. From the day we take our first breath, we find ourselves in and out of the fire, often feeling as though we’ve been hammered and pounded to within an inch of our lives.

Just as there are several things that can go wrong in the process of forging a high quality blade, God is able to take the fires and hammer blows of our lives and use them to turn us into beautiful works of art. The original piece of metal can’t begin to see what the pain of all the heat and hammering and grinding will form, but in the hands of the master blacksmith, it will become something strong, useful, and truly beautiful.

There is a saying that tells us God will never give us more than we can handle…I’ve come to understand that this doesn’t mean we will always have a load proportional to our own strength. It means that our strength is not relevant. It means that, no matter what comes our way, all we have to do is carry as much as we can and God will be there to carry the rest. So, as nothing is too big or too impossible for God to handle, nothing that comes our way is too big or too impossible for us because we NEVER carry it alone.

Our stress and angst comes when we feel as though we’re supposed to have all the answers and carry all the weight on our own. Instead, we need to take each moment and do the best we can with it, and then move on to the next moment. Yes, God is quite capable of carrying our entire load without our help, but that will not help us to grow and mature on a spiritual level. By being a part of the process, accepting the heat and pounding of life, and choosing to endure the pain with a grateful and trusting heart, we will become what God has designed us to be, both inside and out.

As the start of a new year rapidly approaches, many of us feel a sense of a new beginning, or a clean slate. There are resolutions made, some kept and some forgotten, but all made with the best of intentions. It’s the time of year when we are able to see what we can be, and for some reason, allow ourselves to believe the best of ourselves instead of the worst. This year I have only one resolution, and that is to learn to endure the pain that comes my way with a calm and thankful heart.

So, when you’re sitting down and considering the goals for the year ahead, look at your life and how you currently choose to handle the heat and hammering. It could be that altering your current choice in that area will reap blessings and benefits beyond imagining. Trust the master blacksmith of our lives!!