Working In The Armory
A Devotional
© 2003 Steve Lattier and Men’s Help Ministries


It is early winter morning and there is already snow on the ground in this mountain village. There is smoke pouring through the opening in the wood roof of the village blacksmith shop. There is always smoke, but today there is a plume that indicates the fire is extra hot. A figure is huddled over the furnace for a moment and then it turns to an anvil close by. The sound of a hammer rings out in the crisp, still mountian air. Upon closer inspection you see that he has a long flattened piece red hot metal, you can tell by the pure sound of the hammer ringing that this steel isn’t for a plow. The figure turns back to the fire again. As you watch this process is repeated over and over again throughout the day into the afternoon. You step inside the murky hut to see better. What the man is doing suprises you a bit. All that you can see him do is heat the steel bar, turn to the anvil and using the hammer fold the flat bar in half, then back in the fire it goes. Patiently this craftsmen does his work, tirelessly into the evening he folds and flattens this bar. Finally he straightens, turns and walks outside and plunges the flat steel into a snowdrift. You take a moment to ask him what he is doing and he explains that he is the chief weapons-smith for the local Samurai warlord and he is making a sword. When you inquire why he spent all day folding and hammering and still has a piece roughly the same size and shape as when he started, the sooty man explains that the folding strengthens the blade, the more it is folded the more it will resist breaking. Now the steel is ready to shape, sharpen and polish, then the warlord will come for it.

You and I are not much different than that piece of steel the blacksmith had are we? God can’t very well use us if we break the first time we are used in combat can He? Historians have uncovered tales of ancient swords that were folded one thousand times and some surviving swords could be used to shave with if one so desired. What do you think, do you think that God wants to use you in combat as just an unformed hunk of brittle steel, or do you think that He even more than the craftsmen in that story, wants to heat, fold and flatten you until you are veritably unbreakable in faith?

The Word:
James 1:3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything[/i]

Oh, “pure joy?” Most folks I know struggle simply “not complaining.” God wants you “mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It seems as if God might just have something in mind then doesn’t it? Well of course He does. God wants to use you as a spiritual warrior, a weapon against the enemy, using the gifts and talents He has given you to lead people to Him. Christian, unless we LET God fold, us and shape us, sharpen us and polish us, we are no more good to Him than a rusty hunk of iron is to a Samurai warrior. Lets look at this another way.

[b]The Word:
1 Samuel 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

Why do you think that David went through so much trouble to pick out a couple of rocks? Here in the twenty first century we call it aerodynamics, back then it was common knowledge to hunters, herdsmen and warriors that smooth rocks will sail straighter and farther than rough ones. David knew that in order for him to win against the giant he had to pick out a useful weapon. The only rocks that he would use had to be shaped just right to do the job necessary. God is no different He wants rocks to be shaped just right so that when He sends us flying at the enemy we will not waver, wobble, fall short, or curve to the right or left. God wants us to hit the enemy square between the eyes. In order for us to be able to do that then we must let God smooth us out. Did you know how river rocks get so smooth? Most of you will answer because of the water and that is mostly true. Just as in Christianity the (living) water is the moving force but the responsibility lies on tiny pieces of sand and gravel that travel with the water. They crash into the rocks and over time wear them down. Occasionally the water will carry a large rock down the stream with it and it will bounce and chip and crack its way across the other rocks. It seems the rougher a rock is the larger the chips are that come off of it. Smaller and smaller pieces are knocked off until it too becomes round and smooth and usable as a weapon!

The Word:
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

You see Christian God doesn’t actually use a hammer and anvil, nor will he send boulders crashing down at you to shape you. He will, however set you up! God will arrange for you to bump into people sometimes for their benefit, sometimes for yours. Lets make one thing abundantly clear the “lessons” that God sends your way are likely NOT going to be cheery wonderful happy people. More often than not they will be quite unlovely, angry, addicted, immature or abusive. Those are the rocks that will chip the rough edges off of you. It might be the hypocrite at church, it could be a fellow Christian that simply rubs you the wrong way. Most of the chips that God knocks off of you He has to offend you to do it. Read that again. Most of the smoothing out that God does to you, He does through offending you. Shocking isn’t it? Why would God want to offend His servants, His children. It is through offense that we take time to step back and examine ourselves. It is through offense that we get the drive to seek the real truth of the matter. The reason it is offensive is because WE are so worldly and far off base that God’s ways confront our earthly nature and shock us. So the next time you are stuck in traffic anf the guy behind you keep blasting his horn, or the next time you step into the checkout line at the supermarket and a lady has her child hold her place in line in front of you while she goes and gets the OTHER two carts and eight antsy, crying, dirty children, remember the blacksmith, remember the rocks, remember this devotion. You see Christian, to learn anything from God we must have a teachable spirit inside us. We cannot put up a wall of resistance to the lessons God would have us learn, we will never get to a place where God can truly use us. I have heard it takes weeks, even months to proporly make a Samurai sword. Science tells us that it takes years for a rock to become smooth in a river. Let us dedicate ourselves to NOT making it take a lifetime to become a usable weapon for God.


Pray with me: Father, I repent of my resistance to change. Show me how to have a teachable spirit. Lord you have my permission to chip of any rough edges you deem necessary. Father I want to be unbreakable in combat and when slung from your sling I want to hit the mark. Use all the people you need to make the changes in me until I am a sword of truth and a rock faith. Use me! Change me forever! Make it so in Jesus name. Amen!


If you are not saved and would like more information please email me, see me, or visit us at www.Real-Men.net then click on the link for your free ticket!

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to this Devotion send an email with the appropriate subject line to: Devotional@MensHelp.org

Great Word Steve...funny you should mention...Sunday past at church during the service a coworker and myself were offended by a comment made by our pastor...something to the effect that Emergency Nurses were callous...he was talking about being patient....I thought it was an inappropriate remark...maybe I was a touch too sensitive..but it rubbed me the wrong way...but on reflection..after reading your post...maybe my sensitivity was because pastor may have been right to a degree...many of us in the ER see so many patients who truly don't need to be there and are abusive to the staff...and when we have someone who is truly appreciative of us and the service we provide they're usually the sickest ones and sometimes because we become so bogged down with the BS that we don't have enough time to provide the care needed for the truly ill that, at times, makes us appear "uncaring"...but still I don't think the pulpit is the right place to make such a comment...but what do I know ...thanks again for sharing this Steve...God Bless...