A
man who did not believe in God stopped at a blacksmith shop to talk to his friend, who was recently converted.
“Do you know what I do with this raw iron?” asked the blacksmith. “I take a piece and heat it in the fire until it is red. Then I hammer it unmercifully into the shape I desire. When it is formed, I plunge it into a pail of cold water to temper it. Then I heat it again and hammer it some more. And this I do until it is finished.”
Before his friend, the nonbeliever, could reply, the blacksmith continued.
“But sometimes I find a piece of iron that won’t stand this treatment. The heat, the hammering and the cold water are too much and it breaks apart.” He pointed to a heap of scrap iron that was near the door of his shop.
“Those pieces will never be good for anything.” The blacksmith went on. “Sometimes I have felt God’s hammer upon me. But I don’t mind, if only he can bring me to what I should be. And so in all these hard times, my prayer is simply this: Try me in any way you wish, Lord, only don’t throw me on the scrap heap.”