Girls With Swords: How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero by Lisa Bevere & John Bevere

Author:Lisa Bevere & John Bevere
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Christian Life, Women's Issues, Inspirational, General
ISBN: 0307457818
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Published: 2013-02-11T22:00:00+00:00

—ALICE WALKER

I found it humorous that in order to temper the fierceness of individual samurai, these warriors were encouraged to balance their aggressive nature by mastering the normally feminine arts of flower arranging and the tea ceremony. Likewise, I don’t think it is too much of a stretch for us women to add a bit of combat arts and etiquette to our lives.

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

for how should my name be profaned?

My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:10–11, emphasis added)

The charge to “behold” is an invitation to look at something from a vaster vantage. Opening this verse with behold clues us in to the fact that the people going through the process probably had no idea they were being refined. They just thought they were going through that four-letter special name for the underworld!

God gives us a new view from his eternal vantage point. He is the ultimate refiner of our lives. Remember, refinement is a good thing. But good does not always mean pain- and trouble-free. For example, giving birth is a good thing, but I never found it to be pain-free. This life is full of furnaces called affliction. The key to successfully navigating them is knowing that our God is in charge of setting both the temperature and the timer.

Before we go any further, let’s define this word affliction. In the context of Bible definitions, it most commonly means suffering under physical and/or mental distress, difficulties, burdens, problems, pain, trouble, misery, misfortune, and hardship. There are a few references to illness, but the majority of times it appears to be when God’s people experience a smackdown of epic proportions.

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. (Romans 5:3–5, MSG, emphasis added)

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