I have certainly not experienced the types of trials that Job had, or that so many others face on a daily basis, but we all have things that are “trials” for us. This verse has been one that I come back to over and over again in my adult life. Yes, adulting is hard! It only gets harder with each successive child added to the family, career advancement, and ministry responsibility. There is less and less down time and more and more needs to be met. It seems like a constant juggling act. I feel constantly under pressure – like a diamond. Sometimes I wonder when I will get a chance to breathe and recuperate.
The metal must be heated to extreme temperatures so that it is white hot and malleable. But the thing that I have learned from this show is that even after the blade has been hammered into the desired shape, it must be “heat treated” to completely harden the metal. If the blade isn’t heated to a hot enough temperature, sometimes several times, the blade will be “soft” which allows for the possibility that the blade could break or warp. After this heat treating is done to the bladesmith’s satisfaction, he “quenches” the blade, plunging it into a container of oil to stop the heating process and set the blade.
This is our life. We are being put into the fire to soften us, melt away our exteriors of control and perfection. The trials of our lives are God’s hammer and anvil, shaping us into vessels, tools, and weapons for His glory. The constant process of heating and reheating is our own “heat treat” to set the shape that God has created. At certain times we will feel the “quench” where He plunges us into His holy oil – the presence of His Spirit – to cool us. But if we are to be effective, and not defective, we must remain in the fire with the promise of the strength and the gold to come.