No Waste

"For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire." ~~ Isaiah 9:5
The first time the Lord gave me this verse, I was at a loss in understanding His message to me. But now I declare, YES! Because now I know, all of the toil and effort that went into this past season of winning the battle against my flesh will be used to fuel the fire of His presence within me. God teaches us to be a good steward because He is one himself, He wastes nothing. Everything that we submit to Him, the blood shed from the tearing away of those things that we hold dear, the tears shed as we weep in despair of ever reaching the goal and the shoes that are worn from walking, walking and walking in the path that He has laid before us. All of it, every single bit will be used to His glory.
Just think of all the things we have laid down and understand that with those things, like pride, fear and stubbornness out of the way, we have more room for Him and His fire! From the fire of His refinement to the fire of His presence we must be tempered before we can stand the heat!
There is a heat that comes from obedience, in walking His way. Jesus felt it when he was rejected, scorned and mocked. If we are not tempered in the fire and do not suffer the pounding of the blacksmith's anvil with the gentle taps of the goldsmith's mallet we will not hold up when we are unsheathed for battle.
An improperly tempered sword is unreliable in battle and likely to splinter or break in clashes with the enemy. But how encouraging to know that He will use every bit of our time invested in Him and not a bit will go to waste. All of the pain, all of the tears, everything that we wore during that time fuels us to press on and in, to cross over into that new place He has for us. Do you want be used by Him to defeat the enemy and take back what has been stolen? Then don't hesitate to His forging a new life for you. Cry out to Him, 'temper me O Lord' and submit to His preparation. You won't be disappointed.