Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17, ESV
I find it so encouraging to see God at work in my life. To know His hand is on me in the midst of the circumstances and continuing to show me how He intends to use this time to continue to build and hone the woman He purposes me to be for the present and the future plans He has for me. I love that I don't know what it looks like, but can rest in the trust that He continues to remold me as He sees fit (Jer 18:4). I know His hands are the only ones I can put my trust in especially when the place I find myself in says that the tomb is empty. Resurrection in coming. I shared that sentiment with my dear friend, Vern, one of the team's supervisors for which I am responsible, as he asked how I am doing today.
We have become the iron that sharpens the iron of the other. As we have had opportunity to share not just the challenges within our workplace and team with one another, but our hearts and personal lives, we have stretched each other. Prayed together and for one another and our families and loved ones. He calls me wife #2 and his sister in Christ and it's such a gift to be treated with such love and care. We have prayed through his illnesses and accidents as well as those of his wife. We have prayed over the challenges with his adult children who have moved back home and how that was beginning to cause stress between he and his wife. We have talked about having grace with those we love rather than ruling over them and bringing down edicts. We have filled each other up with the love of Christ so that we can continue to pour that out in the lives of those we encounter and those in which we are fully invested.
This morning, Vern shared with me how over the time since I was placed in his life two and a half years ago, he has grown so much personally and spiritually. That is God in me and his recognition of it as such. Many times as I was shifting and adjusting things with him and for him, I was not thinking about if God could or would use this, but God was. He knew what Vern needed and was answering those needs even though it was unknown even to Vern at the time that he needed those changes. These changes in Vern have also changed the dynamics in his family. He has become the leader, the father, and the husband his family needed. His wife has gotten back into reading the Bible. She has gotten back to praying. Seeking God again and lifting her husband and family in prayer. Vern has learned to love deeper and release to God the things he used divide his household. I love being a witness and a piece of what God is doing. It continues to give me hope for the future He has for me as a wife and being covered by a husband who will also be seeking His leading and being remade and remolded as The Potter sees fit.
If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. Ecclesiastes 10:10
Sharp edges are not good in people, but with iron which is being honed into an ax or a sword, a sharpened edge is needed to for the purpose in which it will be wielded. Work smarter and not harder--with wisdom rather than with strength. What if we lay down our way and lean into God's way? In Isaiah 55:8-9, God tells us that His ways and His thoughts are not like ours, they are higher than our ways and our thoughts. He sees from the heavens; a place of omniscience. I trust the One who sees all and knows all with my path and my future far more than the view I have from my circumstances, my current place, my current storm or desert or wilderness. Those are all for a time or a season, but my God holds all time and all of us firmly in the palms of His capable and loving hands. I choose Him and His ways. Let the iron continue to sharpen the iron so I can stand in a place of wisdom rather than strength.
I find it so encouraging to see God at work in my life. To know His hand is on me in the midst of the circumstances and continuing to show me how He intends to use this time to continue to build and hone the woman He purposes me to be for the present and the future plans He has for me. I love that I don't know what it looks like, but can rest in the trust that He continues to remold me as He sees fit (Jer 18:4). I know His hands are the only ones I can put my trust in especially when the place I find myself in says that the tomb is empty. Resurrection in coming. I shared that sentiment with my dear friend, Vern, one of the team's supervisors for which I am responsible, as he asked how I am doing today.
We have become the iron that sharpens the iron of the other. As we have had opportunity to share not just the challenges within our workplace and team with one another, but our hearts and personal lives, we have stretched each other. Prayed together and for one another and our families and loved ones. He calls me wife #2 and his sister in Christ and it's such a gift to be treated with such love and care. We have prayed through his illnesses and accidents as well as those of his wife. We have prayed over the challenges with his adult children who have moved back home and how that was beginning to cause stress between he and his wife. We have talked about having grace with those we love rather than ruling over them and bringing down edicts. We have filled each other up with the love of Christ so that we can continue to pour that out in the lives of those we encounter and those in which we are fully invested.
This morning, Vern shared with me how over the time since I was placed in his life two and a half years ago, he has grown so much personally and spiritually. That is God in me and his recognition of it as such. Many times as I was shifting and adjusting things with him and for him, I was not thinking about if God could or would use this, but God was. He knew what Vern needed and was answering those needs even though it was unknown even to Vern at the time that he needed those changes. These changes in Vern have also changed the dynamics in his family. He has become the leader, the father, and the husband his family needed. His wife has gotten back into reading the Bible. She has gotten back to praying. Seeking God again and lifting her husband and family in prayer. Vern has learned to love deeper and release to God the things he used divide his household. I love being a witness and a piece of what God is doing. It continues to give me hope for the future He has for me as a wife and being covered by a husband who will also be seeking His leading and being remade and remolded as The Potter sees fit.
If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. Ecclesiastes 10:10
Sharp edges are not good in people, but with iron which is being honed into an ax or a sword, a sharpened edge is needed to for the purpose in which it will be wielded. Work smarter and not harder--with wisdom rather than with strength. What if we lay down our way and lean into God's way? In Isaiah 55:8-9, God tells us that His ways and His thoughts are not like ours, they are higher than our ways and our thoughts. He sees from the heavens; a place of omniscience. I trust the One who sees all and knows all with my path and my future far more than the view I have from my circumstances, my current place, my current storm or desert or wilderness. Those are all for a time or a season, but my God holds all time and all of us firmly in the palms of His capable and loving hands. I choose Him and His ways. Let the iron continue to sharpen the iron so I can stand in a place of wisdom rather than strength.
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