Have you ever held something in your hand and hit it with a hammer? You feel the blow of the hammer, every vibration.  The hammer holder always feels every vibration of the hammer as it hits it mark, even if what the hammer is hitting isn’t in their hand.  This is no different when God is the hammer holder and He is molding us on His Anvil.  As He uses His hammer to mold us He feels those vibrations, every bit of it because He is not only holding us, but He also lives in us.  As believers the Holy Spirit indwells us (1 Cor 6:19 ), so as God is molding us, He is experiencing the molding process along with us.  More so even still, as the process effects our life, He knows exactly what the process feels like to us in an intimate and personal way.  How is this possible?

God in His infinite wisdom made it possible.  Jesus Christ lived on earth fully man and fully God (Jn 8:48-59 ).  He felt every emotion from love to pain, hurt to joy, each emotion that we feel in the molding process as humans.  Only, when Christ felt these emotions He felt them with an intensity we cannot understand because they were pure, not clouded by sin.   So, as Gods hammer molds us He knows the exact way it makes us feel each time in each moment.

We can never say to God that He is giving us more then we can bear as He holds the hammer in the molding process.  First, because He promises He won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.  (1 Cor 10:13 )  Secondly, because He feels each hit of the hammer as He molds us.  Any emotion you can name, He is not going to give you more of it then you can bear.  He is experiencing the molding process along with you, and knows how this process is effecting you.  If there is a pain, sorrow, frustration, anger, hurt, or any emotion you are holding out to God and saying "Why?" remember that He is bearing it with you, that He knows intimately and personally how you feel (Heb 2:18 ).  Rather then asking Him "Why?", consider crying to Him "Help!"  Since He has experienced all of it, and has infinite wisdom, He is the best source for the help you need.

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".

Ping ping ping ping THUD.  Over and over the hammer falls, hits its mark, and a sound is heard.  The sound that is heard depends much on what material the hammer is hitting.  Have you ever built anything and listened to the hammer as it hits the nail, then misses?  What sound is heard when the hammer suddenly misses it mark?  Most often a thud is heard, usually because a hammer is used to hit nails into wood.  Now if you happen to hit your thumb, that ensues quite a different response.  If you are hammering a nail into a wall to hang something, you might even hear a slightly hollow sound as the hammer makes a hole in the wall as it sinks into the surface when it hits.  If you take a hammer and pound on brick or stone and you will hear a chip chip chipping sound as pieces come off with each point of contact.

As the hammer does the job it is meant to do-hitting things-it always makes some kind of noise.  It doesn’t do its job silently because it always has a point of contact, that moment when the hammer comes into contact with the object we swing it at.  A hammer cannot do its job when there is no sound because that would mean it made no contact with its intended target.  God uses hammers to mold us: His word and His will.  If we are expecting to have those do their job without having some noise in our life then we are fooling ourselves, because a hammer cannot do its job without some noise.  If Gods hammers are making contact in our lives there is going to be some noise, because that is what happens when a hammer makes contact with its intended target!

Now a physical hammer may go ping, or even thud, when it hits its target, but what kind of noise will God’s hammers make?  First we must look at what God is using His hammers to do.  God intends to mold us into who He desires us to be, transforming us into a new creation intended for His glory.  (Eph 4:22-24 , 2 Cor 3:17-18 )  For this process to take place He must remove the things that are not like Him, and replace them with the things that are like Him.  1 Peter 2:9 tells us "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  We are called out  darkness!  Verse 1-3 says "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."So what is that hammer being used for?  To replace our nature with the things of the spirit.  Looking at this we can only do that if crave spiritual milk-if we seek God, if we are craving spiritual milk we are allowing Him to mold us, to use His hammer to shape us.

So what does Gods hammer sound like?  That depend on us really.  If we are avoiding the hammer, God is still going to use His will and His Word as His tools, however the noise it makes in our lives is going to be much different then that of a hammer hitting its mark!  Think of not only the sound of an actual hammer missing its mark, but the feeling made in your body- rhythmic when it hits its mark, but when missing the mark the vibration of the hammer feels completely different, even hard, harsh or painful.  When we are avoiding God’s hammer that is what happens in our lives.  The molding process still occurs, but it will begin to feel harsh, hard, or even painful.

If you are hard, like a piece of wood, then you are going to hear and feel a hard thud in your life.  The molding process is going to feel like a constant pushing, banging, and pounding.  This is when you need to allow God to soften you through time in prayer asking Him to help you realize His will for your life.  If you are empty you are going to hear and feel a hollow sound.  The molding process may seem useless, like it is taking you nowhere because you do not understand the hope of His calling.  This is when you need to pour your time into Gods word allowing it to fill your mind and soul with His promises.  If the molding process hurts like the hammer hitting your thumb, that is when it is time to remember Gods promises by reading them, and by going to Him asking Him to be your strength, shelter, comfort, and healer.  As the molding process goes on in our lives we will feel a chip chip chipping away in our lives, at the same time those things will be replaced with the things God desires us to become, and He will complete the process to the end.

God is going to mold us, change us, and make us new, what that sounds like in our lives will depend on how we respond to the hammer.  Ask yourself what sounds you are hearing in your life through the molding process.  Does what God is doing sound like a thud,  does it sound hallow, feel painful?  If you are avoiding the hammer in any way,  go to God and ask Him to help you change the sound it is making in your life so that the molding process can become one of joy.  That is the sound God wants the molding process to make in our lives, the sound of joy! For there is no better model for our molding process than Christ!  Being molded by God’s hammer can be a joyful process if we are not avoiding it and we allow God to do what He desires in our life.