Once, years ago, to help a friend, I took her child to an optometrist so he could fit her with new glasses. First, the doctor put them on the child to see if they fit. Then he took them off, saying they still needed some adjustments. He dipped the earpieces into a small glass container that was half-filled with a powdery substance. Taking the glasses out, he then worked with the earpieces a bit and put the glasses back on. They now fit, and we got ready to leave.
I asked him what he’d done. He said that by dipping the glasses in the hot salt in the container, it warmed them up so the plastic would soften and become pliable. In this way, he could form them to fit the child.
Sometimes, a similar thing happens in our spiritual lives (Isaiah 43:2). We experience a sort of softening heat that comes from our struggles. Then we become pliable in God’s hands so we can follow His plans for us. When we encounter a problem, we learn to trust the Lord to help us. Doing so typically prepares us to trust Him further when presented with new challenges. As the earpieces in salt become pliable, our problems make us pliable to recognize God’s help as He gives it. Then we can trust Him to continue doing it as we follow Him.
If God needs heat to make you pliable, let Him use it. Be pliable.
Anne Adams is a retired church staffer living in Athens, Texas, where she writes a historical column for the local newspaper. Her book Brittany, Child of Joy, tells about her mentally disabled daughter and was published in 1986 by Broadman. She has taught junior college history and has published in Christian and secular publications for forty years.