Flint-knapping

“…But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint…” Ezekiel 3:9

“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” Isaiah 50:7

Flint. In the past two days I have read two Bible verses about being used by the Lord and about flint. What in the world is flint? And why did I read about it so much?

So, I took the liberty of looking it up.

Flint is a rock used to make arrowheads, knives and other tools. Its strength comes from its hardness, but also from the ability it has to be shaped by skilled workmen. In fact, the term “flint knapping” is used to describe the process of heating up flint so that it is more workable and fractures or splits on more “natural” lines. The controlled use of fire on flint not only improves its “flaking quality” but also can change its color and luster and make it more magnetic.
And I would be remiss not to mention the fact that flint was also used to ignite gunpowder in firearms up until the early 19th century. However, it is not adept at making fires on its own. One needs to hit pyrite (FeS2) with flint in order to make it spark well.

Why am I writing all this down? Because I think that there is a beautiful picture here.

In college, there was a group of us who called ourselves “the Toolbox”. We coined that phrase because we were hoping to all be tools fit to be used by our Master. I think we all knew that in order to make a good tool, sometimes you have to be pretty hard on the original material.

Flint is hard. And that’s a good quality. But it might be hard and the wrong shape for a good arrowhead or knife. A master craftsman would need to shape it for better use – and, it is best shaped when it goes through the fire. After it’s been through the fire, parts of it are chipped away to fashion it into what is desired. Then, it is most effective.

Isn’t that like our lives? God gives us qualities, dreams, ambitions, attitudes or talents that need to go through the fire. We sometimes are stripped away from what we lean on, humbled when our best isn’t good enough – but ultimately the effect of fire is to change us – improve our “flaking quality”, change our “color and luster”, even our “magnetism” – so that we are better tools in the hands of God. After the fire, He can freely chip away at our imperfections. He can make us exactly the people He wants us to be – so that He can then use our gifts and talents most effectively in a world that is in a constant battle.

AND – speaking of battles reminds me of firearms! Which reminds me that a good piece of flint is also excellent at making sparks and setting things on fire. And the hope is that someday, God might use us to help start a fire. How wonderful it would be to live in such a way that our lives produce sparks that help set others aflame for the gospel of Jesus Christ!

And when we give our lives to Him – I do believe He plans on doing just that. We just have to be willing to go through the fire and the chipping and the struggles. Then we will be more useful.

I had to laugh as I read about flint today. I thought of the different “fires” I’ve been through, the dreams that were snuffed out, the humiliations...and realized how many of those things have shaped who I am today. And it made me grateful for each of those – because it made it easier for God to chip away my “flakes”. I wonder what my next fire might be? What else needs to be chipped?

I'm glad my God loves me too much to let me stay where I am. I’m going to trust myself in the hands of my Master Craftsman.

So thankful He knows what’s best!

Hudson Taylor's Secret

I recently finished reading a book entitled: Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret and I was incredibly blessed to read the testimony of a man so sold out for the Lord. His trust in God’s provision was amazing. One of his favorite hymns was:

Jesus I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart….

Mr. Taylor’s whole life was characterized by a constant reliance on God – AND an overflow of God’s love and grace and strength. Here are two of my favorite quotes from the book; I thought they might be worth sharing.

1. “No fear that His resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.”
2. “It doesn’t matter, really, how great the pressure is,” he used to say; “it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord – then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.”

Isn’t that beautiful? We can rest – and be so full of the Lord that we overflow onto others. As I start a new school year of teaching at a new school with new kids and new schedules and responsibilities – I can rest! I know that I am fully equipped – even with the mind of Christ (I Corinithians 2:16) and I can look at each moment as a chance, whether it seems good or bad – to draw closer to my Jesus.

Looking forward to being poured out and drawn in!

The word “cultivate” has many definitions – but each listed below (thanks to dictionary.com), I believe has an important bearing on what I desire this blog to be about.
1. To till and prepare land for the growth of crops
2. To plant, tend, harvest, or improve (plants) by labour and skill
3. To break up land or soil with a cultivator or hoe
4. To improve or foster (the mind, body, etc) as by study, education, or labour
5. To give special attention to
6. To give or bring culture to; civilize

Before I ever became a Biology teacher, I absolutely loved watching things grow. Keeping a garden with my father was always a part of the summer that I looked forward to. Well, rather…planting was something to which I looked forward. The weeding in the hot sun was something that I could have passed on. But the joy of watching seemingly dead seeds spring into life is a miracle.

I believe that physical life is a miracle. Even more than that, life in Jesus Christ is a miracle. We are born again (John 3) into a new life – into the family of God. And, we are told that we are complete in Christ. Countless hymns record the mysteries of such a state:

Complete in Thee! No work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee. ~ Aaron Wolfe, 1851

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet. ~ Elvina Hall, 1865

We are complete right now! Yet we also will be fully complete in heaven. How is that possible?

“Because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14

We are complete – we are perfect in Christ. His sacrifice is enough to cleanse us from our sins and wrongdoing. But He is continually making us holy. He is continually stripping off our sins and our failures, chiseling away our imperfections, setting us apart and making us different than this world and more like the Lord Jesus. Will we ever complete that process before we get to heaven? Heavens, no! But I believe that it is so important to strive to be holy – to cultivate completeness of not just positional perfection in Christ, but also practical perfection.

Hmmm….that was a bit wordy and maybe hard to grasp. The basic description is that I am perfect in the sight of God – completely cleansed from my sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s my position in Jesus. But, practically speaking – down here, I am so very far from perfect. I make mistakes all the time. However, I desire to be more like Jesus every day – and want to cultivate the completeness of being more like Jesus.

So, this blog is a record for me of how the Lord is cultivating completeness in my own heart. He will have to at times:
1. Break up the “soil” of my heart with heartache and trials to prepare for more growth
2. Prune, harvest and tend the places where I am growing – to make fruit more bountiful
3. Help me improve my mind with learning – study, education, labour – for in this, too, is cultivation
4. Mold me to help me understand the culture of His kingdom

I’m so excited to be able to look back and see what the Lord will do. He is faithful, even when I’m not – loving, even when I feel empty. But I have learned that when I remember His faithfulness and the completeness of His work and love, I can’t help but live for Him.

What inspired this whole thought process was a verse from the hymn, “Morning Has Broken”.

“Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass”

Where He is – there is completeness. We might get smooshed sometimes in the process – but it’s all for the purpose of making us more like Him.

And when life throws us curveballs or rainstorms or challenges – let’s not stay down! Let’s spring up – for there will be completeness where His feet pass.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” II Peter 3:18