A few summers ago, I took my grandkids to a history museum to learn how people lived many years ago. One attraction was the blacksmith shop.
I had watched blacksmiths before, but this time I really paid attention. He placed an iron in the fire until it turned red-hot. Then he pulled it out, laid it on the anvil, and hammered the hot metal into shape. When the metal cooled, becoming too brittle to work with, back into the fire it went.
A blacksmith pulling one iron out, working on it, then plunging it back in and waiting for it to heat up again wouldn’t accomplish much in a day. So, he worked on several pieces at a time, hammering on one as others were heating, keeping continual watch on all the pieces. If one was left in the forge too long, it would lose its shape. Timing is crucial. That is where we get the phrase strike while the iron is hot.
The smithy knows how many pieces he can manage at a time. If he overestimates what he can handle, he will end up needing to reheat and rework some pieces. That is where the saying too many irons in the fire comes from.
What an apt description of our lives when we try to juggle too many projects and end up ruining one thing while hurrying to strike while the iron is hot with another. We run hither and yon, pulling out tasks to work on, plunging them back into the fire, and not doing anything well.
When we notice ourselves making dumb little mistakes or forgetting things we meant to do, it may be time to remove some irons from the fire. We need to take a deep breath and ask God which ones should be pulled out and set aside for another day.
Jesus warns us in His parable of the sower who cares and how distractions of this world can choke the Word planted in our hearts, keeping it from bearing fruit. Too many projects and activities, no matter how good they may be, will stunt our spiritual growth.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” If we don’t have time for this, we probably have too many irons in the fire. We want to be like Jesus, who did all things well (Mark 7:37).
If you’re looking for a church where the Word of God is preached and made practical, come visit us at Charis Christian Church, 4811 E. Julep Street, Suite 101, in Mesa.