Iron Sharpening Iron

Have you heard that scripture about Kingdom Friendships? No, not the one about it being sweet as honey – the other one. 

Just as iron sharpens iron, so does a friend sharpen another. - Proverbs 27:17

It looks really good on a coffee mug, but have you ever experienced the actual sharpening in the spirit as you go through hardship with friends? 

We'd love to think of this sharpening as a fun time, maybe like a spa pedicure, or a freshly brewed cup of coffee. But that isn't the imagery that God uses. 

The imagery conveyed to us in the scripture is a loud process. Clanging, and slashing, hot and uncomfortable. Certainly not a walk in the .. coffee shop. In fact, if we are all being honest this “sharpening” isn't something we enjoy.

As I sat across the table from a friend, digging into the scars of my heart I could hear in the spirit “CLANG, CLASH, CLANG” so loudly. I wanted to run away. but I knew the Lord was reminding me that the hard conversations can become the most fruitful ones if we will lean into the pruning and the sharpening rather than run from it.

But what do we do when the sharpening is actually pushing down bricks to walls we've built around our heart? I wish I could sit here and tell you that I have all of those answers, but I dont. In fact I find myself in the tension of wanting to run and hide to build more walls, and allowing the Spirit to break them down the way He wants.

Eventhough I haven't found the magic answer, I can tell you a theory I have.

What if, living in community with others and surrendering to the clanking of iron sharpening iron forces us to our knees in such a way that aligns our Heart with the Father as we cry out in desperate attempt to Love His Bride the way He does? What if we can surrender to the fact that people aren't Jesus, and we can stop putting them into places that only Jesus can fill.

What if loving eachother is actually an act of surrender... ?