The Hammer and the Anvil

A few years ago a good friend of mine started making his own knives. He built a small forge where he practiced shaping things like railroad spikes and lawn mower blades into durable and versatile cutting tools. It amazed me how he could repurpose a random and discarded piece of metal into a polished piece of craftsmanship, especially since he didn’t have many tools aside from a small forge, a hammer, and an anvil to rework the assorted steel and iron. 

After a while of seeing his progression as a knife maker I decided that I’d like him to make me a knife that I could use for hunting. I wanted my own long-blade knife that I could use for field dressing deer and after discussing this with my friend he got to work on building my new tool. 

The knife I received back was hefty and stout. It has great balance and fits nicely in the hand. It is strong enough to hack through a 4x4 post, but compact enough to comfortably carry on your belt. I have used this knife many times when cleaning deer in the woods and I think of my friend each time I use it. My knife was one of the first that he made and though it has its imperfections, I know that it helped him become better at his craft. I know he put many hours into making it a usable and polished piece of equipment. I cherish it for these reasons.

Knife making is not an easy or gentle process. In order to take a worn out piece of scrap metal and turn it into a new creation takes heat from the forge and many beatings between the hammer and the anvil. Reformation of this kind contains much violence, that if analyzed improperly, could lead one to assume that the maker’s goal is to destroy rather than to create. Soot from the fire, heavy swings of the hammer, and sparks bouncing off the anvil make for an intense scene, but intensity yields strength and through adversity comes capability. No place displays this quite like the forge. 

The flames are needed to make the metal mendable. The anvil supports the new creation and ensures the blows from the hammer properly shape that which is being formed. The hammer reworks and strengthens the metal after each pressing blow. Each of these is needed to make something that is strong and dependable. Knives, swords and shields are all beaten into shape, not massaged. 

I have found that spiritual formation follows the rhythms of the forge. It is no gentle process for God to take that which was discarded and dead to then create in it new life, holy and fit for kingdom work. Through Christ, I have been brought into the heavenly forge and I’m being repurposed for the good works that he prepared in advance. 

Many days it is hard to tell what I am becoming and for what I am destined. Am I to be a sword that cuts through the lies and deceit of this world to make known the truth of Jesus? Am I to be a shield that protects and watches over those still vulnerable in the faith? Am I to be a plow that prepares unplanted ground to receive the gospel? The specific vessel that I am to become is not of great importance. I only wish to keep one truth in mind, that I was made for glory, just not my own. 

It requires faith to lay down between the anvil of God’s Word and the hammer of his providence, to trust that it is for our good. I am learning that to be stretched, beaten, and worked hard is not an unkindness from God. Daily testing and ever growing challenges are not meant to destroy. These are meant to create. 

I am learning to find comfort between the hammer and the anvil. It is here I am reminded that he disciplines the one he loves. The heavenly forge is a place of much loss, but greater gain. I am being stripped of many comforts, but being filled with greater joys in Christ. He is removing all that is unhelpful in my formation, sins of many kinds such as, self-righteousness, idleness, lust, and pride. His hammer hits hard on my soul, but not to destroy. He is forming a new creation into the likeness of his son. 

We aren’t sent through the forge to then be put on a shelf. We are not ornaments on Christ’s mantle, rather we are meant for working his fields, fighting the many battles of this life, and restoring one another along the way. When swords dull, shields dent, and plows break from working the ground, we ought to be encouraged that our God and craftsman supplies us with what we need to be mended once more and sent back out to live his purpose for us. 

Remember it is through many tribulations that we will enter the kingdom of heaven. His hammer and his anvil are meant for your good, to equip you with the strength needed to overcome this world. Hold fast to Christ. When you are emptied and broken and life will not relent, do not despise the hand that hammers away at your soul. It was those same hands that were nailed to the cross for you. 

Hammer away at my soul, Oh Lord, until all that remains is of Christ Jesus.