Forged in the Fire: Moving Forward

In a recent post, I spoke of my willingness to give up my right to access to my driveway. Just a short time later, the Lord opened the door for me to get a vehicle. Hmmmm. Now, I needed access to and the full unencumbered use of my side of the driveway.

The problem with the shared-entry drive way was reignited the Monday after I brought the car home on Sunday. The neighbor lady deliberately took her war against me to a new level when she started blocking me in or parking so as to prevent or if I left while their car was gone and they got back before I did, they would park in such a way that made it almost impossible for me to pull back into the driveway unless I jumped the curb and risked ruining a tire or something. That’s not a risk I am willing to take.

I really tried to wait it out. I expected the Lord to do something miraculous. I vacillated between acceptance of the situation and becoming angry at the injustice of it. Part of me wanted to march over there and tell her off. But, that would only make things worse. Plus, I would regret doing so afterwards. I wrestled with being angry, knowing it was important to direct my anger appropriately and not to let it take root.

I do know there is a greater purpose to be accomplished here. I know that what I am enduring at her hands and mouth now is mild compared to what I may be experience later on as God opens doors that have up until now been closed. Perhaps, I haven’t come far enough to fully come to the end of myself and trust God completely with the trial He is allowing me to go through.

By the Wednesday evening after my last post, the humor I had attempted to find in being pinned in by my neighbor quickly dissolved. I knew that it was time to take action. I called their landlord again. This time I let him know that I had finally found a vehicle and asked his perspective on the situation regarding use of the driveway. His first question to me: “She isn’t pulling far enough to the right is she?” I explained what had been going on. It was a very amicable conversation. He was out of town but said he would make a call. I told him thank you.

I guess, even at my age, I am still too naïve when it comes to hoping that people will finally choose to do what is right. I had hoped that his reminding his tenants this time of where they were supposed to park and that they were not to block the drive entry/exit access point would be all that was needed. How wrong I was!

About an hour later, I heard a loud racket. Bella started barking. I walked back to see what was going on. The man who worked for the landlord had attached a thick red and white rope to the garage and laid it out from the garage to the edge of the sidewalk! I walked out to ask what was going on. He looked up, said nothing, gave me a dirty look, and continued what he was doing. I watched in shock as he took a hammer and knocked out a chunk of concrete. He hammered in a fence post. He then proceeded toward the edge of the sidewalk and did the same thing, tying the rope onto each. While I was out there, watching in sadness and disbelief that it had to come to this, I noticed the neighbor lady and her three young daughters coming toward us.

She said something very rude and told me I could go back in the house now and flicked her hand at me to shoo me off! I calmly and respectfully reminded her that I had every right to be outside and to check on what was going on in the driveway, especially when it affected my property. As I was attempting to communicate with the man, she interrupted again and launched into a verbal assault against me.

Now, I don’t think “fast on my feet” anyway, but this time, it was as if the Lord kept my mouth shut. I knew I was not to respond to her this time. As I quietly stood there, I experienced a momentary intense awareness of what it must have felt like for Jesus when He was being falsely accused. I was humbled.

I have been in other situations throughout my life where people have said hateful things to me and about me. There was something so very different about this one, though …. there was such a hateful, taunting, defiant, and arrogant spirit coming from this woman.

I waited a few moments, turned around, and came back inside. My heart ached, my tummy was in knots, my mind was reeling. Adrenaline fueled my body in full force. Her car remained parked in the drive entrance, blocking it, instead of being parked where it was supposed to be.

I spent a very restless night in the midst of an intense spiritual battle. I cried. I prayed. I tried to think of songs to sing. Thoughts bombarded my mind. I tried to talk it out verbally, hoping that would help me to make some sense of what was going on. I verbalized things that I would like to have said or could have said, had I been allowed to do so. Then, told myself to stop and shut-up! That wasn’t going to help. I knew better. But, it was all part of the battle.

I asked the why question. I read from my Bible. I prayed and cried out to the Lord for mercy. Out of obedience, I prayed for her. I spoke scripture out loud. I took authority over the thoughts bombarding my mind. It was as if the adrenaline refused to recede as the attack continued. Finally, sometime in the early hours of the morning, I drifted off to sleep, only to awaken a couple of hours later, exhausted.

The morning was gloomy and I felt gloomy. I needed to do something. I started looking about the house for a project. About mid-morning, I knew what to do. I would get some items together and give them away. This was another step forward. The Holy Spirit told me specifically which of the local churches to call. I did. One of the pastors and his wife would stop by around noon if that was alright with me. That was great! I got excited!

Adrenaline kicked in once again, this time in a good way.  I was able to get quite a few items out and stacked on my kitchen table. Some I had to leave in the cabinet until they arrived. I so enjoyed meeting this pastor and his wife. We visited as they pitched in and packed things into some empty boxes I had accumulated. (I had disposed of quite a few not too long ago).

Amazing! The number and the sizes of the boxes I had were perfect for the quantity of items they were taking!

Even in the little, seemingly mundane details, God is at work.

The pastor asked if he and his wife could pray for me. I said, “Absolutely.” It was such a blessing to interact with them and have them pray for me. Then he asked if there was anything else he could help me with while they were here. Such a kind and gentle spirit he had! I thanked them and said I couldn’t think of anything. He said that if I ever needed anything, to please give them a call.

Later that afternoon, I began to feel better. The phrase “Forged in the Fire” began rolling around in my spirit. I contemplated those words. The phrase wasn’t new to me. I knew it well. I knew what it meant in the work arena. I knew what it meant spiritually.

It’s a phrase has been used and referred to by many for years. It has many relevant applications, not only in metal works, but in life itself. It is realistic. It is representational. It is an analogy. In fact, if you type that phrase into a search engine, you’ll see it used not only in reference to blacksmithing, but you will also see it used to name blogs, books, sermons, special events, and in many articles describing a myriad of events throughout history.

Forging involves the application of heat (fire) and pressure to create useful products. The application of heat and pressure is also used to can fruits and vegetables for later use – it preserves them. For now, the focus is on forging. Perhaps there might be an opportunity later on in another blog post to further discuss preservation and how that relates to our walk with the Lord.

There are certain weapons and products that must be forged through the use of fire and a hammer to be transformed into something useful and effective, something with a different purpose. As metal is subjected to the fire (the amount of heat does have to be monitored and controlled by the use of certain techniques so as not to damage the metal causing it to become worthless for the task at hand), it becomes malleable (softened but not melted), moldable, able to become what is necessary or envisioned by the smith.

The chemical properties of the piece of metal being tempered do not change – a piece of metal remains a piece of metal - but its shape and purpose does change. With the use of extremely high heat, pressure, and a hammer and/or other tools, the smith fashions a product to serve a specific purpose, whether it be a tool or piece of jewelry, or other items.

Precious metals also go through the process of refinement via fire to rid them of impurities that otherwise lessen their quality and value. In this case, melting and reshaping occurs. Sometimes additives are necessary to achieve the desired product.

So it is with us when we come into relationship with Jesus. Our Heavenly Father allows us to go through difficult and painful circumstances designed to burn out our impurities. There are times in our lives when we experience such intense and lengthy trials, that we feel like we are melting….that we are not going to make it through the fire.

He allows the fire, the heat, and the pressure of certain circumstances and events for the purpose of softening the hardened areas of our lives and to reveal any wrong thinking that needs correction. As with Job, God knows our faith and how much we can take. He knows how we will respond, the emotions we will go through, the pain and suffering that will come. He does not abandon us.  He promises to be right there with us. It is up to us whether or not we trust Him and continue to walk with Him. We may not reap the same kind of blessing that Job did, but that is not what our goal should be anyway. Focusing on Jesus and laying up treasures for eternity is what is important.

These furnaces of fire that we will be called to endure are not always literal like the one into which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown for not bowing down and worshipping the king as decreed. (See the entire story and the testimony of God’s presence with them that protected them in Daniel, Chapter 3). The furnaces of fire for some involve being unjustly jailed for their faith, being beaten, tortured, maimed, and other horrendous acts of evil.

For some, the furnaces of fire include people who call you names and treat you badly for no apparent reason, who bully, taunt, and harass you (and not just verbally), as in the case of my neighbor. For others, their furnace of fire is the continual struggle with disability or with financial hardships. We each have stuff that we go through, that we are subjected to.

The furnaces of fire are situations and circumstances that challenge us, irritate us, frustrate us, make no sense to us, make us angry, and cause grief along with so many other emotions. These places can shake our faith, test us to our limits (what we think are our limits, anyway), then push us even further. We cry out to God. We wonder if He hears. We question. We vacillate between knowing what we should do and the strength of the emotions that tempt us to do differently.

He does hear. He does care. He is there. With us. In the midst of the fiery trial. In the midst of our confusion. In the midst of our pain. He promised to never leave or forsake us.

These hard places are meant to soften and mold our character, to strengthen our faith as we are called to lean more heavily onto our Lord and Savior for the Grace, Wisdom, Discernment, and Strength to endure and be the testimony that will encourage others and to be the witness that will show the world that, Yes, Jesus makes the difference.

The times and seasons of testing can seem to last forever. Sometimes it’s as though they come back to back with no time for rest or recuperation. Other times we experience lengths of time when things are less intense. Some seasons are much more intense than others. But, they all have a purpose.

As we talk with others personally, or read or hear their stories, we may frequently observe similarities within the test or trial experienced. There are some trials and tests that you and I will experience in common. There are others who are called and equipped to endure things that we will never physically encounter. We are not all called to go through the very exact same circumstances or situations for the same length of time, because God created us each uniquely and individually. We have different gifts, talents, and purposes.

A turn of events: 

I had the pleasure of enjoying the company of my little great-niece, who is almost 3 years old, from Friday evening to Saturday morning. When my sister, her Grammy, picked her up, I walked out with them to the sidewalk. As they were getting in the car, I happened to glance to my left. Their car was still blocking the drive entrance/exit. I saw the neighbor’s husband walking out to the grassy area near the street. I realized at that time, it was an opportunity that I needed to take.

I approached him and spoke to him about the need to move and park where they were supposed to park. I could tell he was already greatly disturbed and agitated as he began making excuses as to why they could not park anywhere else except there. None of the excuses were legitimate. With each excuse, I was able to respond with the truth. This wasn’t like him. However, I remained firm as I spoke to him and told him the next step I would take should this continue. I emphasized that I had plans for the day and needed to be able to get out and back in throughout the day without interference. He said he would take care of it. I returned to my house.

I realized that as I walked away, I was at peace!

That moment was a turning point that needed to happen.

Roughly 15-20 minutes later, he moved their van out of my way and I was able to leave. The driveway entrance remained clear throughout the day and I was able to get in and out as needed.

Throughout the day, I pondered the sense of peace and freedom that settled in my heart. I also recognized a very caring and tender emotion in my heart compassion toward the situation within the neighbors’ household - a situation that I had sensed, but was confirmed by the earlier conversation with him. I felt compassion wash over me. It’s as if, after all the struggling, prayer, and asking God to intervene, that He had been preparing me to step up and take definitive action.

Saturday evening, as I was cleaning up some water I had accidentally spilled, the word “strength” and “forged in the fire” resonated in my spirit, along with the words spoken to and over me years ago during prayer following a Bible study held in my home “the righteous are bold as a lion.”  There was connection between these three things! Convergence!

So many times when we talk of being forged or shaped by trials and tribulations, I think the tendency, as I referred to above, is to focus on the softening and on being gentle. That can be the case. But, the purpose of trials and tribulation is also to strengthen us and bring forth courage to speak as God wills – to not be timid when we should be bold.

Today, I experienced both strength to stand against injustice and later, a genuine gentle love washing over my heart toward my neighbors. I find myself wanting to draw them into my arms and love on them. God makes no mistakes. Whether He chooses to use me in that manner and to allow me to see what He can do in their lives, or not, I know He is changing my heart toward them to be more like His.

Another scripture that was spoken specifically to me many years ago, was that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind. I have spoken that one over myself many times since then. In fact, it was one of the verses I spoke over myself during the heat of the most recent spiritual battle.

In bringing this to a close:

 I have spent many years struggling with those urges to speak up and be bold because I had learned – been taught – as I was growing up that it was not appropriate or acceptable for me to do so. I was punished for it. Even as an adult, I have often been chastised or told to shut-up by others when I felt compelled to address or question something that was wrong.

I grew to the point of disliking the whole idea of having to confront anyone, ever. When I saw or felt it was necessary, I would make every effort to put it off as long as possible, hoping to try everything else I could think of first to bring about resolution. It never worked and only served/serves to create more conflict within myself.

I am, once again, amazed at and in awe of how patient, how loving, how kind, and how Great is our God!

And, if the driveway entry is blocked again, it is important that I follow through this time.

To everything there is a time and a season…….