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Key Bible Verse: These things I plan won't happen right away. … Wait patiently, for it will surely take place (Habakkuk 2:3). Bonus Reading: Psalm 40:1–5, 32–33

In smelting and forging, the cooling process is as important as the heating. Metallurgists have discovered that changes occur in the metal itself during the cool-down period. If the cool-down is too fast, it can cause microscopic cracks in the metal that will inevitably lead to fatigue—and ultimately to disaster.

To insure that the cooling process aids in strengthening, the metal is typically placed in a quenching bath. Then, when the right temperature is reached, it's dropped into a constant-temperature bath until it attains uniform temperature throughout. Next, it's allowed to cool slowly in the air until it reaches room temperature. This waiting is essential to insure the metal's structural uniform strength to accomplish its end use.

We, too, go through cool-down periods. In those times the Great Refiner strives to build into our lives the qualities that will fit us for effectiveness in the ultimate use He has in mind. Waiting becomes an inescapable segment of the process. It's essential that you and I understand that God is every bit as interested in the process He takes us through as in the product He's forming us into.

—Bob Reccord in Forged by Fire

My Response: To counter my tendency to stress the product and neglect the process, I'll …

Thought to Apply: Simply wait upon Him. So doing, we shall be directed, supplied, protected, corrected, and rewarded. —Vance Havner (evangelist)

Adapted from Forged by Fire (Broadman & Holman, 2000) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, I trust You to act when the time is right. Give me the discipline to wait for Your time.

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