A blacksmith uses fire to heat the rod to soften it for the hammer to shape it.  That might work well for a rod and a hammer, but fire doesn’t work so well when a person is involved, we get burned far too easily!  Unfortunately however we often feel like we are standing in the middle of the fire when we are going through a trial, because the pressure builds causing what feels like intense heat.   Sure, our trials don’t physically burn us, but far too often we allow them to emotionally and spiritually burn us because we forget how to cool the fire.

When a blacksmith pounds on the rod and nears the shape he intends, he then sticks the rod into water, and the result is steam-a lot of steam.  The heat is absorbed by the water, and the result is that the water evaporates rising as steam leaving the rod cooled.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just jump into a pool of water when the fire of a trial seems too hot to bear and allow the water to absorb the heat and rise as steam?  We do have a pool of water available to us that makes this possible.  God supplied us with living water, a refreshing stream that restores our soul in a way water cannot.  In John 7:37 Christ says "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." (John 7:37 NIV )  Christ is telling everyone that He is available to all who can admit "I am thirsty, I need to drink of living water, not of water that only quenches for a time then leaves me thirsty again".  This living water is the forgiving grace of Christ that is given to all who admit their need for a savior, believe that Christ died for them, confess their sins, and trust Christ as their Savior.

For those who have trusted Christ there is a refreshing stream that restores the soul when the trial seems so hot.  Often we feel this heat because we are longing for something.  We are longing for refreshment.  Psalm 42:1-2 says this:

"As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?"

Our soul is built to long for God, to desire Him, to want to meet Him.  Though there is coming a time when those who have trusted Christ will be with Him (Rev 21:3 ), right we now need to be seeking Him to find refreshment while we wait for that day.  In Jeremiah 31:25 the Lord says "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint".  The answer to the longing and the thirst.  The refreshment we seek.  Now we need to act.  We need to be a people who seek the Lord.  Again in Jeremiah the Lord says "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart". (Jer 29:13 )   If we seek Him we will find Him, and He will refresh us when we our weary.  The fire will not seem so hot if we are refreshed by the one who is capable of giving us more then a simple drink of water.  Go to the Lord in prayer, let Him know you feel hot in the fire of the trial, lifting your needs to Him like steam rises when the rod cools.  He will refresh you and satisfy you in a way that only He can.