The Furnace of Life

This morning while I was praying I asked God to help me see things through His eyes. The sun rose through the pine trees and poured its heat and light onto my closed eyes, and in that moment I saw the glass in the furnace, fire blazing, burning hot. I was that molten glass on the long rod of the Venetian glass blower.

He expertly turned it this way and that, dipped it in cold water, then began fashioning it to a form only visible in his mind’s eye. Returned it again to the fire.

Flames, heat, molten glass, colors melting, flowing, screaming in the agony of change. Always, at the perfect moment recognized by the master, he pulled it again from the furnace to sizzle in relief in cooling waters. Then more molding, fashioning, drawing out the beauty and artistry of this one unique piece. His perfect creation. No two the same. We watched in wonder, mesmerized by the flames, the burning heat, the sizzle of steam rising, the emerging beauty.

Thank you, Lord, I whispered. This is how you transform our lives. You hold us in the furnace of life, turning us this way and that while the fires sear us and consume our arrogance. We are overcome with the trials of life, the pain and the agony, the heartache, the loss, the broken dreams, the grief, the failure. Yet you keep turning this molten glob of glass, knowing just how much heat to allow before cooling us in the waters of your love, molding us expertly with your fingers, unafraid of being burnt as you tenderly shape us into a creature of beauty only you could envisage.

The colors of our life bleed in misshapen swirls, our mistakes dark streaks, our personal agonies drops of blood in pools of blue and indigo and violet.

The glassblower finally removes the glass from his rod and caresses it into its final form. Searing heat, sizzling cold, stretching, molding. We watch in wonder as a work of art unfolds in all its beauty. All the pain forgotten.

This is how I see each one of you, the Lord spoke to my spirit. You live the pain and the struggle, the loss and heartache. I see beauty emerging through the furnace of life. Allow me to transform you through these trials into a creation of exquisite beauty.