Like Fire and Hammer
As powerful as a little flame is over an entire forest, and as powerful as iron is over rock, God's Word is miraculously more powerful and effective than we'd ever imagine.
“Is not my word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)? If I’ve never seen a fire before and you told me that one little flame of a little match could alter the molecular structure of an entire forest and level the trees to a ten inch pile of ashes, I’d think you were crazy.
In ancient times some of the hardest material known to humans was rock. When iron came onto the scene you can imagine the surprise on the face of a man when his neighbor would come over with a hammer that had a shiny, grayish piece attached to a wooden handle and proceeded to smash his rock tool with it!
This is God’s own message – very powerful, very surprising, and even confusing to our human understanding. “How can that happen?” we wonder. How can the same body and blood of Jesus that was pierced and shed on the cross be here for me to eat and drink? How can tap water from Lake Michigan save the soul of a little baby who can’t even comprehend what’s happening? How can someone who has done what I’ve done and made the mistakes that I’ve made be welcome in church, much less in heaven? How can the painful troubles I experience be loving discipline from my Heavenly Father that will actually help me in my faith and life?
As powerful as a little flame is over an entire forest, and as powerful as iron is over rock, God’s Word is miraculously more powerful and effective than I’d ever imagine. The Bible calls it living water that my thirsty soul can drink for life-sustaining forgiveness, the double-edged sword of the Spirit that fights off Satan’s temptations, rain that replenishes my spiritual passion like the rains have greened the grass here in the last couple weeks, milk that nourishes me with strength even though I don’t feel it working, a solid foundation on which I stand confidently in the truth, the dynamite of God that blasts away my ungodly guilt and hopelessness forever.
Listen to God’s Word, believe it, and get ready to be surprised!
PRAYER: You have such a desire to tell things to me, Lord. Merciful things. Relationship things. Eternal things. Practical things. And I have a need to listen. Open my ears to hear and my heart to believe what your word tells me. Surprise me with your power and love. Amen.