Happy Aloha Friday! It’s July 25th, 2025.
The other day, I was looking for a hammer. I just wanted to hang a picture—simple enough. I checked the kitchen drawer, the garage shelf, even under the couch cushions. No hammer. After a while, I got so frustrated I drove to the store and bought a new one. Came home, put up the stupid picture. When I opened the toolbox to put away my new hammer… there it was! The hammer I’ve been looking for. Sitting right where it belonged.
Isn’t that just like us? We go searching high and low for what we had all along. We just sometimes forget where to look first. Isaiah points out the same irony...
Today's Reading:
Isaiah 43,44,45; 1 Peter 4
Scripture
“The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.” (Isaiah 38:8 NIV)
Observation
Isaiah paints a picture that’s comical, poetic, and painfully honest. You can almost see the blacksmith, sleeves rolled up, sweat pouring down, hammering away at the molten iron. Sparks fly. Muscles ache. He’s doing everything he can to shape something sacred.
But then comes the twist: the “god” he’s shaping? It’s powerless. Lifeless. And the craftsman himself? He’s the one who grows weak. Hungry. Thirsty. The irony drips from the iron.
Isaiah’s point? Idolatry isn’t just wrong—it’s ridiculous. We pour all our energy into something we think will save us, only to find it can’t even save itself.
Application
It’s easy to laugh at the blacksmith… until I realize I’m holding the hammer too.
How often do I shape my own idols—not out of metal, but out of mettle? I shape success. I hammer away at approval. I mold a version of control and call it peace. And just like the blacksmith, I end up drained. Spiritually dehydrated. Worn out.
That’s the irony: the very things I work so hard to form are the very things that leave me empty. Because fulfillment doesn’t come from what I form. It comes from the One who formed me.
One chapter earlier he states, “I have called you by name; you are Mine… When you walk through the fire, I will be with you.” The One who formed me is the One who walks with me. The fire that tires me doesn’t scare Him. The pressure that weakens me doesn’t diminish Him.
Imma drop the hammer. I don’t need to manufacture my own peace—I need to follow the One who formed me. That’s where my strength is found. That’s where my fulfillment lives.
Prayer
Lord, help me put down the hammer. I’ve been chasing peace in what I can build, but only You can satisfy. You formed me. You’re with me in the fire. That’s enough. I trust You. Amen.
—Chris Kiriakos