“I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp.”

Isaiah 41:15

Around the turn of the twentieth century, a bar of steel was worth about $5. Yet when forged into horseshoes, it was worth $10. When made into needles, its value was $350. When used to make small pocketknife blades, its worth was $32,000. When made into springs for watches, its value increased to $250,000. Wow!

Can you image what a pounding the steel bar had to endure to be worth this much?

But the more it is shaped, hammered, put through fire, beaten, pounded, and polished, the greater its value.

The same it is with our spirits which like tempered steel go through a pounding as God prepares us for events and ministries that lie unseen.

It is said that, the sharper the Craftsman’s knives, the finer and more beautiful His work.

Therefore let us use this analogy as a reminder to be still, silent, and long-suffering, for it is those who suffer the most who yield the most.

May God use our pain to get the most out of us, for His glory and for the blessing of others…amen!