Friday, 28 July 2023
“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;” – Isaiah 54:16 NIV
There is a condition in medicine that is known as Blount’s disease. It affects the growth plate (the part of the bone that grows) of the tibia (shin). A baby is born with what looks like normal legs and when they start walking and applying pressure on their bones, the growth plate gets affected and it grows abnormally. This gets worse and the child then develops bowing of the legs. It normally occurs between the ages of three and five. If left untreated, it leads to a bad deformity in either one or both legs. Treatment initially requires braces to try to correct the abnormality, and if this doesn’t work, surgery will be required. The surgery to correct the deformity is called an Osteotomy. This entails breaking the bone and adding screws to realign them, thereby forcing them to develop in a straight way. It’s a painful process but very essential to make sure the growth of the bone is normal. If successful, this leads to the patient having healthy and strong bones that can carry and support their whole body.
In the above Scripture, it’s clear that it is GOD who created and allowed the blacksmith to fan the coals into flame. This fanning of the fire makes it possible to make a weapon that is fit for war. The blacksmith increases the intensity of the fire so that any impurities in the steel can be removed. It’s only when the fire is scorching hot that these impurities can be exposed and removed. So GOD allows seasons of fire to remove things in our lives that will hinder us in our preparation for our callings. The encouraging part is found in verse 17, where it is clear that in all this, He will never test you beyond what you can endure. The trial or the furnace is programmed just perfectly, so that it may stretch you to the point of almost breaking point, but it isn’t unbearable or impossible to overcome (1 Corinthians 10:13).
“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV. Like Blount’s disease in kids, if we are left to develop the way we want to, we would be crooked, and our growth would lead to deformity and destruction. We would grow in an abnormal manner that would be counterproductive and render us unusable for the Kingdom. So like the bones in Blount’s disease, GOD allows trials and challenges to break us, and when broken, He realigns us to a path or growth that is conducive to the calling over our lives. When realigned, we are then forced to develop into weapons that are fit for their purpose (Isaiah 54:17). This is why when we’re going through a season of challenges we need to be cognizant of the fact that everything will work out for our good. Though the process is very painful and sometimes feels like we are about to reach our breaking point, GOD has orchestrated it in a way that will ultimately benefit us and the people we are called to serve. Paul thought he was about to perish and asked GOD to intervene. What he initially didn’t understand was that the thorn in his flesh was there to serve a purpose. The thorn was allowed to torment him so that he may always remember that his sufficiency comes from GOD, and not from his abilities and revelations.
In 2017, GOD put me in a season that I will never ever forget. Everything dried up and I lost things that were very dear to me. Mind you, it was GOD who told me to enter that season. I literally had heartache and would lie awake all night trying to come up with ways to take a shortcut through this wilderness. I often cried myself to sleep while asking GOD where He was, and why He led me here knowing He was going to leave me. I felt like He had forsaken me. It was a very traumatic and painful process that molded me into the person I am today. Some moments felt like I was in a very dark tunnel and there was seemingly no light at the end of it. Though at the time I tried to resist it, I now understand its purpose. The pain I endured, I would never wish it on my worst enemy (if I had one) and if they had the option I would advise them to take the scenic route instead. The experience made me tough and made me depend on Him for my sustenance. He made me realize that there is no plan B or C, I just need Him, my plan A. A lesson I will always cherish. Had I circumvented this process, I would not have learned the lessons it taught me. It’s a season I needed in my life, and no amount of bargaining or fasting could have avoided it. His ways and thoughts are truly higher than ours.
“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on GOD, who raises the dead” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV.
This is why when we’re going through a season of challenges we need to be cognizant of the fact that everything will work out for our good
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