Tempered Steel

Do you know the feeling when you're having a conversation and you begin to realize you're hearing the voice of the Lord in what the other person is saying? Well, that happened to me last night. My husband and I were on our way home from church (a new and growing church plant in Olympia from Des Moines, WA called The Citadel--great place, we love it).  I was one of the singers with the worship team last night. We had just entered a beautiful time of free worship when our worship leader started crying and wasn't able to continue singing. It was very moving.

We are meeting in a temporary space and our stage area is kind of cramped. So I was standing near our piano player (actually kind of tucked behind the end of the piano and nearly right up against the edge of the projector screen) quietly singing my own little song to the Lord, when the piano player elbowed me and said, "Sing it!!!" So I held my mic closer to my mouth and sang out. It felt great, the people sang with me, I felt us shift into a higher place with the Lord. But all the while, it was like I was in two places at once. One--Having a great time with the Lord, sensing His presence and pleasure; having a great time with the church going to a deeper, higher place. And Two--I felt constricted, restrained, a little boxed in, and not able to move freely--physically and spiritually.

This is what my husband and I were talking about on the way home. I told him I knew it wasn't a bad thing for me to feel this way. The Lord was in it, in charge of it. I believe He was telling me, "See, it is not going to be enough for you to just 'be involved' or be 'a part' of the worship team. I have more for you. And I know you want it. Feel that? You want it!"

Yeah, He's right. I want it.

And here is what my husband said that I knew were the very words of Jesus. He said: You know how a master craftsman takes the metal he's working on. He puts it in the fire, then plunges it in water and takes it out and hammers on it, then sticks it back in the fire. All the while he's crafting and shaping that metal into it's proper form. The craftsman keeps doing it, fire, water, hammer, fire, water, more hammering, fire... He does that because he knows what it's going to take to make that piece of metal into a sword that is strong, fit for the battle. So that when it strikes its target, it doesn't break from the impact. It can be wielded blow after devastating blow and stay sharp and cut deep. That's what the Lord is doing in both of us. He is the master craftsman and we are the metal being made into swords.

Yeah, he's right. I love my husband!