When we swing a hammer and hear that ping ping ping, we know we are hitting the mark.  Those times we hear a thud, a hallow sound, and when it hurts, we know we have missed the mark and need to re-aim the hammer.  Why?  Because the only one who can correct the error is the one swinging the hammer.  When we are swinging a hammer at an object and miss, it is our judgment that has caused the miss to occur.

When God is the one chiseling at us, and the sound of the hammer hitting our life is not the sound we want to hear, it isn’t God who has to re-aim His hammer.  His judgment is not at fault for causing His hammer to miss its mark.  We must act to change the sound of the hammer, because the sound of the hammer is directly related to where we are standing in our relationship with the Lord.  The different reactions we have to the hammer may be caused by a wide variety of things in our life-according to us-but at the core they are all caused by our need to be in Gods will.  What do I mean by that?  God intends for us to have a relationship with Him that is intimate.  If the hammer is missing its mark we have moved away from the one who is swinging it.  This  relationship requires time, energy, and sacrifice on both ends.  He has given that to us, and is giving that to us, on a constant basis.  God promises us His constant presence (Ps 46:1 ), which means He is giving us His time.  He promises us shelter, strength, comfort, and to be our sufficiency. (Ps 61:34 , Ps 28:6-8 , Ps 23:4 , 2 Cor 12:8-10 )  That requires much energy.  He has already given us the sacrifice of His son so that this relationship with Him is possible. (1 Jn 4:10 )

Time, energy, and sacrifice.  What time energy and sacrifice is He asking in return, for we could never give to Him what He gives to us.  What He asks is that we spend time in prayer and in His word.  If the sound you hear is a thud-softening is required.  A softening only the Lord can give. (Ezek 11:19 )   This can only be gained by spending time in communication with Him in prayer.  The hallow sound can only go away when you are filled with something, filled with the things that the Lord desires for you.  How do you discover those things?  Spending time in His word, reading those things which He has promised, the wisdom He gives to us, and the instructions He imparts.  If the hammer hurts the only way to heal that is to be honest with God in prayer and to allow Him to comfort heal shelter and strengthen you-allowing Him to fulfill the promises He made.

Time-time in prayer and time in Gods word.  It requires energy when sometimes we think we do not have it.  It requires a sacrifice, because when the hammer doesn’t sound right in our life we may not always want to do it, so we give up what we "want" for what we need. When the hammer doesn’t sound right in our life we may not feel like spending that time, but we should want to change how the hammer sounds.  Why?  Because that is how we are molded and changed, and if the hammer isn’t hitting the mark squarely then the molding process isn’t happening in the most effective way.  When the hammer doesn’t sound right and you just don’t "feel like" spending that time ask yourself this question "Is what I am doing in place of praying or reading Gods word going to change the sound of the hammer?"  If the answer is an honest "no" then the next words should be "Lord-help me to do what I need rather then what I want".