I've heard the phrase "when it rains it pours" and often wondered about the justice of that. "Bad things come in threes," they say. And I wonder how a good, wonderful, and loving God could do that to people. "Kick me while I'm down." There are so many phrases that mean basically the same thing. When I'm in the fire already, why are you turning up the heat? Why are you hitting me then?
But let's think for just a moment about a different image... I have watched a blacksmith/farrier make horseshoes before... To make the shoe fit, first you heat it really hot. And then you put it on the anvil, and hit it, repeatedly while it is hot and pliable. And maybe then you put it back into the heat, to be ready to be hit again, to make it the perfect shape, to fit the horse perfectly, sometimes in a special way to correct something that is going wrong with a hoof, to heal a part that has been harmed, or to train a horse to walk in a certain way.
What if we realize that God isn't the fire, and he isn't the hammer - He's the anvil. He's not moving. You get put in the fire and beaten - but through the whole thing God is stationary - he's the anvil that is supporting you, shaping you... to fit perfectly into the spot He has for you. You may have been shaped perfectly to fit with a situation, formed in a way that will support someone else, or maybe even put there to challenge, or stretch someone so that they walk in a certain way.
"Let the pain press you into Jesus, He will carry you" - just as the anvil supports and forms the horseshoe, press into Him.
Jesse's words about his song:
Life is full of pain and pressures. The source of our discomfort can come from many sources: the brokenness of the world, the enemy of our souls, the wrong choices we make, or even God's loving discipline. Regardless of the source of the pain, if we will allow the pressure to press us into Jesus he uses the pain to shape us and make us into who he wants us to be. Like a blacksmith forming metal against an anvil. It's not actually the hammer that forms the metal it's the strong, immovable anvil. God is like an anvil and though it may be painful, he lovingly shapes us.
Luke 22:31-32 & Psalm 42
God he will not move
God he will not move
He bends and forms until his work is through
God he will not move
With every blow steadily he holds
God he will not move
God he will not move
Some have asked to harm you
But He has prayed for you
Let the pain press you into Jesus
He will carry you
Hold on, Hold on
God he will not move
God he will not move
He bends and forms until his work is through
God he will not move
With every blow steadily he holds
God he will not move
God he will not move
I know your heart is breaking
Take hope you weary soul
Your faith is almost failing
It’s as though you can’t take anymore
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