Tuesday, 10 June 2008

• On Suffering: The forging of the sword

  Sometimes, the greatest blessings from God come in the form of suffering.
  
  I look back on this year, and see a year of complete destruction.  Losing my wife. Losing my home. Losing my mind because of that.  And then losing my friendships and losing a successful business I had built with my own hands over the last ten years.  Finally, losing my physical health too.  Everything I was and everything I had, the Lord destroyed piece by piece until I had nothing left.
  
  Yet, I look back on this year; and know that this year was the best year of my life.  Many verses come to mind here to explain why; but I will share only three and then share a parable that I like to use to explain myself:
  
  
  

  "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28),
  
  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11),
  
  "Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.  In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back." (Isaiah 38:17).

  
  
  And now, the parable of the sword and the swordsmith:
  
  There are three ways to make a sword.  All three ways can produce a sword that is cosmetically beautiful, and worthy of display on a wall plaque.  The first way, is to cast a sword shape by pouring hot metal into a mold and removing it when it cools to polish up and sharpen.  The second way is to stamp a sword shape out of a flat sheet of metal before going through the same finishing.  Both of these swords appear to be swords of quality by the way they appear, but both of these swords would bend, break or shatter if used as a sword is intended to be used and cannot hold a permanent edge.
  
  The third way to make a sword, is by forging.  A sword made by forging starts out as an individual block of iron.  That block of iron is taken by a swordsmith, thrown into a fire until red-hot, and then removed and beaten with hammer against anvil.  The sword is put through trials and tribulations, over and over, to assure that it is of the finest quality.  The swordsmith repeats this process over and over, adding carbon to strengthen the iron into steel; and then flattening and folding the sword over onto itself, doubling the layers of steel in ths sword with every folding.  Some of the finest Tamahagane Katana produced by master swordsmiths in Japan have over 10,000 layers, take an entire year to craft, and are regarded as the strongest, most beautiful, and most valuable swords ever produced.
  
  These Katana are so well made that in the hands of a skilled swordsman, they can cut a man in half in one stroke through armor, flesh and bone all at once; unlike the first two types of swords, which would break, bend or shatter when used to strike with.  To the naked eye, these swords are all the same.  The truth is, they are vastly different.
  
  Now, imagine the process of forging from the point of view of the sword being forged. 
  
  
  

  
  That sword being forged would be in constant suffering.  It would see itself being thrown into the fire, only to be removed and beaten with hammer against anvil.  And if that wasn't bad enough, it would be smashed flat, and then almost at the point of breaking, it would be folded in half and thrown into the fire again before being hammered flat again, for months and months, over and over, while it looked at the first two types of swords -- wondering why it couldn't be one of the first two types, whose creation and refining were so simple before they became swords.  Instead, this sword being forged sees itself suffering the wrath of this swordsmith, who seems to have nothing better to do than throw this sword into the fire and beat on it all day long.
  
  This sword does not understand why it is being subjected to such difficult trials and harsh tribulations.
  
  What this sword does not realize is that this swordsmith is not subjecting this sword to suffering and wrath, but is instead forging this sword from a simple block of iron into something far stronger, and far more beautiful, and far better crafted, than any of the other swords; and it is only through this refining fire, and by hammer against anvil, with the Love and care and precise timing and knowledge of this master swordsmith that this sword is forged into a sword destined to be held in the hand of a King.

  
  
  
  Too often we forget that blessings not only come in the form in which we recognize as good, but also in the form of suffering.  As we suffer, we can know that God works for the good of those who love Him; that He has a plan for us, to prosper us and not to harm us; and that it was for our benefit that we suffer such anguish.
  
  Do we not liken ourselves to these swords being forged? 
  
  We look around us as we suffer, and we wish we could not suffer like those around us -- as the sword being forged looks at the first two types of sword, and wonders why it cannot be as they are.  What the sword does not realize, and what WE do not realize, is that by the process of forging, we are strengthened and refined, and when our Swordsmith is done with us, we become such beautiful swords that when we are used for His purpose, we bring glory to our Swordsmith, who is our God.
  
  I lost everything this past year.
  
  But I thank God endlessly, every single day, because in truth... I have gained Everything.  I thought I was suffering, but I was being Loved.  I thought I was being broken, but instead, I was being forged.  I thought I was being destroyed, but in fact -- I was being made.
  
  I close with this -- with a word that we use often when we talk about our relationship with God as being "on-fire":  Passion.
  
  When we use the word "passion" to describe our relationship with God, we often use it without knowing what it means, and what it entails.  The word "passion" comes from Latin passus -- "to suffer"; and is used properly in context of the Passion of the Christ, to mean "the 'suffering' of the Christ" -- to have passion for God is to suffer for God.  When we are passionate for God, we suffer for Him, because that is what it takes -- as humans who are naturally depraved and shun God, to have passion for Him is to suffer in His Love.  We just need to realize that what we perceive to be suffering is in fact His Love.
  
  When we suffer, rejoice.  For our Lord God is forging us.  Rejoice, because He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us.  Rejoice, because He has a plan for us.  Rejoice, because He works good for we who love Him as we have been called to be forged according to His purpose.  Rejoice, friends -- for as Hezekiah says, surely it is for our benefit that we suffer such anguish.
  
  I stand here today in the ashes of my life; with all that I had known before gone and washed away by His mighty waters -- and as I stand upon this Rock, I can only cry out to God in joy and sing praises of thanks-giving to the Lord for what He has done.
  
  Rejoice, I say... rejoice.  For this has been the most difficult year of my life.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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