Today I heard a great point of view on how we get better. It revolved around how steel is shaped into something useful. First it needs to be heated, to become soft and then it is hammered to shape it. If you try to shape it when it is cold, it could break. As God is forming us, we must pray first. This softens us, so we can be formed. The hammer comes, with the challenges we face. Just like steel, if we are not softened first (through prayer), we can break.
I write this reflecting on how God has shaped me when I have allowed him and when I felt broken, when I was distant from Him. A very recent example, was I felt tempted with a pull into sin. I made the effort to get up early and go to reconciliation and mass before going to work. I had gained strength by the time I returned from mass to resist the temptations that were so strong before.
God wants to walk the journey with us and we need to ask Him daily to do so.
