Forging Steel (Dedicated...)
Updated: Oct 16
According to master forge smiths:
When steel is heated to forging temperature, it becomes ductile and malleable and be molded to a shape of our choice by applying pressure. With proper processing methods, steel forging allows a billet of steel to be shaped permanently without cracking, due to its plasticity.
Steel forging needs an induction heating system, forge furnace, or forge oven to heat the steel to a sufficient temperature. -
'Becoming!'
A clump of steel becomes the Golden Gate Bridge.
A caterpillar becomes a delicate butterfly.
An acorn becomes a majestic oak tree.
A lump of clay becomes a beautiful jar.
An embryo becomes a amazing person.
In most cases, 'becoming' happens in the obscure, quiet, mundane places of life.
As a young Christian in college, my one prayer was:
‘God, make me fruitful’.
I was burdened and preoccupied with what my purpose and calling was. I loved to watch, listen to, and learn from others who were bearing 'fruit’. I marvelled at the diversity of stunning abilities and qualities on display in other students.
Everyone around me seemed to have a lot of them. What my 'fruit' was or would look like was a complete mystery, but I was fixated on finding out.
To aggravate the issue, leaders at the time thought they knew what everyone's fruit should be, and if you were not bearing that version of 'fruitfulness' then you were not fruitful. You were simply taking up precious space. Now I realise it was not intentional, but at the time unfortunately, that was how most of us slow ones felt. We just could not keep up with the fruit-bearing machine.
The question I should have asked myself was what is the natural process of bearing fruit?
We know its not the same for every kind of tree, shrub, or herb. And, it is not by an act of the will, or by sweat and might.
A tomato is very different from an oak tree, but they are both fruit that proceed from seed. So which is of most value?
If I am making a bowl of salad today, I would need some ripe tomatoes. If in future I would need shade from the storm, I hope an oak tree is growing somewhere that would provide it for me down the line.
Fruit therefore is relative, dependent on time and intent.
God determines the seed, the fruit, its time and its place. The timing and intent are the pivots that make the difference.
If you are a tomato, don’t try to be an oak tree. Be a cheerful tomato!
If you are an oak tree, be consistent, be patient, persevere and stay rooted under even the most severe adverse winds so you can grow big, strong and bountiful as you are meant to be because we may need the safety, security and bounty of your shade much later in life.
God's wisdom is infinite!
He has lovingly provided all we need for this life and for eternity.
He knows the future, if only we could seek a bigger and higher perspective of His creation, election, salvation, redemption, appointment and assignment.
The beauty and mystery of His will and ways are unfathomable. Like fingerprints, the destiny of each of us is unique and different on purpose. All we need to do is live, trust and obey, and we 'become'.
Fruit is not willed. The seed determines the outcome, not the will. We can’t will what only God can do. We live and as we go, we grow and 'become'.
After decades of praying and stressing over my fruit or lack thereof, one day as I pondered a scripture popped into my heart:
‘But by the grace of God I am what I am’ - 1 Corinthians 15:10
I looked it up and kept it hidden in my heart. What I really wanted though was a specific label, like a great evangelist, teacher, or such like, something concrete that I was familiar with based on the historical and contemporary models I had seen and read about.
So for decades, I had no idea what I was called to be or do, I just did whatever was in front of me with the abilities, qualities and skills that I had.
I took each step and each day as it came while staying rooted in Christian devotion, in a church community and in service.
My thoughts were, I don’t want to be a flower, I want to bear fruit! Flowers bloom and look amazing, but they are just colourful, sentimental ornaments that have no real significance.
So to avoid being a flower, I worked and served faithfully and joyfully both in my career and in the community, learning and growing in the process. Some places and lessons were life-forming, keeping me rooted for long seasons and adding significant value. I greatly appreciate those enduring seasons of being grounded.
The beauty of obscurity and anonymity
What I did not realise was during those decades of wondering and what I thought was wandering, something was happening - through the good, the bad and the ugly season, I was slowly 'becoming'.
It is what happens in long seasons of patiently waiting, enduring and persevering in obedience.
It happened on a long drive. I again pressed for an answer:
"Where is my fruit? What is my legacy? What have I achieved?"
(These are valid questions that we should all ask periodically to keep on track, centred and balanced).
This time suddenly, I heard in my heart a stern but loving:
What is wrong with being a flower?
What? I had not thought of that! What is really wrong with flowers? When God speaks its as if all creation is silenced and one has to take off ones shoes and listen.
Suddenly, the value and significance of the gift of flowers came flooding into my mind:
What seasons of life require flowers, why?
Why do we love flowers?
How do we respond / react when we receive flowers, why?
Flowers are given and received for so many different occasions and to express so many different emotions, milestones, anniversaries, and celebrations. I found at least 60 reasons to send flowers.
Every day is reason enough to get a flower!
But, why does it impact us so much when we receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers?
A Florist says it well:
‘When looking at flowers, our brains release three different hormones which create happiness: dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. Dopamine is released when you see or smell flowers because the vibrant colours and lovely aromas trigger an association with something good, which makes us happy…’
Flowers act like the gift of encouragement
As flowers connect with our emotions and spread joy in celebration, and give comfort in sadness; the Gift of Encouragement is one of the most important gifts because it releases the happy hormones that motivate us when we need it.
The gift of encouragement enables us to hear exactly what we need to hear at critical times that keeps us going. It is life giving, affirming and has the ability to shift one's life trajectory.
Encouragement is precious but rare in its purest form.
Encouragement has life transforming qualities as it demonstrates to the recipient that they are seen, heard, known and valued, when that knowledge is critical.
Someone who exemplified this gift is Barnabas in the bible.
Barnabas was so good at it that the early church called him the 'Son of Encouragement'. His gift was crucial at critical times for the key disciples of that time.
It was there all the time.
I realized I had been exercising the gift of encouragement all the time in all the places I had done life over the years, but because it came so naturally, I had taken it for granted.
I did not count or consider it as a gift and the results as 'fruit'.
I was an encourager in corporate settings and faith communities, in teams, groups, one-to-ones, with family, with leaders, with workers; with the weak, with the strong, the high and the low.
In an instant, faces and places came flooding in. I was greatly encouraged, relieved and humbled remembering the outcomes of different discussions, conversations, meetings, forums, platforms, interactions and so many instances when I had done what was so natural to me – Encourage.
Success vs Significance
Finally, I realised I had lived a full life of significance.
It did not look anything like what I thought or was taught. It has been a lifelong process, not a star performance or a platform appearance but a lifetime of simply investing, growing, learning, loving, living and giving.
Lives have been changed and destinies shaped by this gift of encouragement and exhortation. But, it had all been done in the quiet, mundane and obscure places of doing life.
It is not common
I soon found out that the gift of encouragemen is rare.
It happened when I was recovering from a life-changing incident and no one around me knew what to say or do!
Family and friends of faith and none, just looked at me and shook their heads in bewilderment. I felt isolated and unsupported. I then realised how precious encouragement is. And that it is a gift!
There are people in pain all around us and encouragement is greatly needed. The matter has been compounded with social media that disconnects and isolates us with algorithms and makes us feel the grass is always greener on the other side.
How should we respond?
We need to realign our hearts and minds to what is right and true daily. The world needs encouragers and encouragement. Outward displays of success should not fool us. The pain threshold is high and gets higher by the day with social media and AI.
Every person great and small needs to be acknowledged and affirmed periodically. God wired us to be connected and to care for by each other.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Encouragement helps us get unstuck!
So in conclusion, we do not need to stress whether we are a fruit, a flower, a tomato or an oak tree.
Life has a way of shaping us into what we are intended to be.
Time and chance happen to all, sometimes sooner, sometimes later.
As we stay rooted, engaged in life and embrace every season with hope; we can trust God forge our clump of steel into something beautiful and purposeful.
I would like to dedicate this article
to an incredible worker who gave his life to service at a very early age. He has trained many all over the world to be courageous workers through his God's Generals series.
I learned the notion of Becoming from sitting in his classes
in California, many, many years ago.
Observing, watching and listening...
Dr. Roberts Liardon
Thank you.
