Tough As Steel

It still amazes me how everything in this earth realm can give us glimpses into the unseen world. Jesus showed us this by His teachings: ‘the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed into his field,’ or ‘like a mustard seed,’ or ‘like a treasure hidden in a field,’ plus many more. Today Daddy G*D is showing me how the Kingdom of heaven is like a metallurgist who finds rock that he knows contains iron ore and decides to make it into steel.

The rock must first be melted down in order to burn off impurities, leaving iron ore. The ore continues to be heated to burn off the oxygen and then carbon is added back into it. This process is called ‘smelting.’ (Hmm, kind of sounds like that hidden treasure in a field, doesn’t it?) The iron is cooled by a rapid wind blowing over it, and forms what is referred to as ‘pig iron’ which contains too much carbon to be steel. It is brittle and not flexible. So the iron is heated to soften it. This process is called 'annealing' which has three phases: recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. (Bear with me. It’ll get better!) Now the metal must be 'quenched' or rapidly cooled in water or oil. This leaves the metal strong but brittle, because it is so strong it doesn’t give. Sometimes the metal must be strong. Other times it must be tough (not easily broken). Therefore, the steel must be 'tempered.'  This is done by heating the metal to a degree below the critical temperature for a certain period of time and then allowing it to cool in still air in a cast that later can be rolled into the final product at a finishing mill. (Thank you Wikipedia for the lesson in steel production.)

So what does this have to do with the Kingdom of heaven? Well, you see, Adam (human) was formed from the dust of the ground (Ge 2:7). We are the rock, G*D is the metallurgist who sees potential within us, the iron ore. (BTW, the human body is composed of 96% gases {most of which is water, H2O} and 4% of minerals. Yep, that’s right. We are dirty water!)

The trials that we go through in life cause the smelting process to purify us. Life happens. We mature. The rapid wind is the Holy Spirit of G*D blowing over us to reveal our G*D to us. The problem is that we become ‘pig iron’ and not much good for others. We are easily offended (brittle) and fixed in our ways (inflexible). So our Creator, the metallurgist, turns up the heat on us again. To make us strong. ‘In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1Pe 1:6,7).

In this second heating G*D brings healing to our soul (recovery), renews our mind by replacing our old beliefs with His truth (recrystallization), and the fruit of His Spirit increases (grain growth). Now we must be rapidly cooled by water (the Word of G*D) or oil (the Holy Spirit of G*D) to keep us from becoming arrogant.

We are now strong but not yet tough. Tough people know when to stand firm and when to be flexible; how to stand on the Word of G*D and to be lead by His Spirit. We need to be tempered. Life will once again heat up, but not to the point of being critical. Then we will be poured into a cast, a mold. We are all called to be molded into the image of G*D’s Son, Jesus (Ro 8:29). We will be set aside to cool in still air. The Holy Spirit is the ‘air’ of G*D. Even though He doesn’t seem to be moving, He is there. We enter into our place of resting in Him. Now we are ready to be ‘rolled’ into the final product that Daddy G*D will use for a specific purpose (Jer 29:11).

The good thing is that steel never outlives its usefulness. It can be recycled. Don't you just love the idea of going back through the fire to be recasted into something that is useful for today? I don't either, but there is purpose in the suffering. This is G*D's grace molding us into His likeness, and He is right there with us. We are never too old to begin again, and will enter into new phases of life and Kingdom purposes, if we continue in our faith in Jesus and our Daddy G*D!

See, I have refined you, though not as silver.I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. (Is 48:10,11)