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.

When God tells us "no" or "not yet-wait" we have to remember with faith that He intends everything for our good. (Jer 29:11 )  But what about when He asks us to do something we don’t understand, to give up something we don’t want to, or to move in a direction we don’t think we are ready for?  Have you ever told God "NO not that!"?  I would be surprised if you haven’t because I know I certainly have.  When we are walking with the Lord allowing Him to mold us we sometimes discover, even in trial, that there are things that the Lord asks of us that we really don’t want to do.  Much like when a child hears their mother or father say "go clean your room" or "its time to move on", we don’t want to go the direction the Lord is sending us because we are either comfortable where we are, or we are already dealing with enough change in our life to change anything else.

Like the child who doesn’t want to clean their room because they don’t see a problem with it, when we don’t want to change something because we are comfortable with the way it is, we fail to see the wisdom in what we are being asked to do.  If a child’s room is a mess, then they are going to step on something, lose something, or fail to learn how to keep other areas of their life in order.  When the Lord is asking us to change something, we need to recognize that in His wisdom He knows it needs changing. (Job 12:13 )   Also, if something does not fit with the kind of person the Lord intends us to be, He is going to remove it.  It may be that the thing He is trying to remove is something you keep "stepping" on.  Ask yourself if what God is asking you to give up keeps getting in the way of what you ought to be doing, and if it is then that is why He is asking you to give it up.  Like the child stepping on things, removing the obstacle is the wise thing to do.  Saying "no" is only going to prolong your ability to do what you ought to be doing, keeping another area of your life out of order.

If you say it isn’t an issue of comfort, but an issue of being overwhelmed with to much change already, it really is, at its core, still an issue of comfort.  When things in life are in turmoil, when something has rocked our life, we will grab onto what is familiar in an attempt to steady our feet.  We do this so that we can feel like not everything is spinning out of control, not everything has changed, and something is right.  Then we are asked by God to change something and we say "NO I can’t right now!" because we think enough has changed already, it can wait.  Like the parent who says to a child "its time to move on", God is letting you know it is OK to hold onto something different rather then that familiar thing that He is telling us is not like Him.  In trial God is going to mold us, we need to be willing to allow Him to do so.  When He asks us to give up something, it is because it is not like Him, not because He doesn’t want us to have something steady in our lives.  If you feel like you need that steady place to stand so you can’t give up what God is asking you to give up, know you can stand strong in Him. (Ps 61:3 , Pr 18:10 )  Even in trial God is going to ask us to move on, to keeping changing, to continue to be willing to stay on His Anvil in the molding process.

Is there anything in your life that you have said to God "NO not that!" about?  Ask yourself "why?".  Is it because you are comfortable with the way things are?  Is it because you think you need it to steady your life?  Is it becuase you don’t think in trial you can do it and still stand strong?  Is it getting in the way of what you ought to be doing?  Ask the Lord to give you the faith to remember that He knows what He is doing, and the courage and strength to say yes.

"I messed up again!"  How many times have you uttered those words?  If those words have crossed your lips or your mind, I am sure if you are like me, it has happened more times then you care to think about.  There are those times we say "stop even thinking about it" or "your attitude is going to get you in trouble" or "if you don’t get yourself out of this situation you are going to regret it later".  None of us are capable of keeping ourselves free of wrongdoing on our own.  Unfortunately we all know that.  Sometimes we hate to admit it, but we realize that we can’t cleanse ourselves after we mess up.

We know God cannot stand the sight of sin.  In the moment Christ died on the cross He became sin for us, separated from God because God could not stand to be a part of sin. (Mk 15:34 , Matt 27:46 )   So then what confidence do we have that He is going to forgive us once again when we mess up?  Mercy.  Hebrews 4:15-16 says "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Heb 4:15-16 NIV )  If we are confident in God’s promises, and willing to remain on His Anvil, then we know He is going to fulfill His promise to give us mercy and grace when we mess up.

When God molds us part of the process is removing things He doesn’t like looking at in our lives.  If we believe that, then we need to go to Him and say "I messed up again!"  when we do. Why?  Because like us, He understands what being tempted is, but unlike us, He is without sin.  He is capable of helping us in our time of need, removing from us that burden, and giving us the mercy we seek.  Then, once we receive that mercy, we need to ask Him to keep molding us into the person He desires for us to be, remembering that we need Him to accomplish that task in our lives.  Mercy is often followed by a lesson.  It is in the lesson that we learn how to be the person God desires us to be.  Once we have gone to the Lord and cried out "I messed up again" and received His mercy, we need to be people listening for the lesson by ensuring we are in prayer.

If this is the first time you have ever gone to God and said "I messed up", or if you are thinking about it, you can read about the first time I did the very same thing at Reaching Home Plate Safe .