A few summers ago my sister and I took our grandkids to Living History Farms in Iowa to see how people lived more than a hundred years ago. At the blacksmith shop, as they watched the “smithy,” one of them got to hold an iron in the fire until it turned red hot. Then the smithy pulled the iron out and hammered the hot metal into shape. When the metal cooled and became too brittle to work with, back into the fire it went.
A blacksmith working on one iron at a time, pulling it out, working on it, plunging it back in, and waiting for it to heat up again, would not accomplish much in a day. So he works on several pieces at a time, hammering on one while the others are heating. However, the metal can’t be left in the forge too long or it will lose its shape. A good blacksmith knows just how many pieces of work he can manage at a time.
That’s where we get the phrase “too many irons in the fire.” What an apt description of our lives when we try to juggle too many projects at once and end up ruining one thing while hurrying to “strike while the iron is hot” with another. We run hither and yon, taking out one task to work on, plunging another into the fire, and not doing any of them as well as we had planned to.
When I find myself in this situation, I have learned I simply must stop and ask God which irons need to be removed from the fire to save for another day – or eliminated altogether. In Mark 4:19 Jesus warns us that the cares of this world can choke the Word of God that has been planted and is trying to grow in our heart. Too many projects and activities, no matter how good they may be, will stunt our spiritual growth.
God tells us to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). If we don’t have time to do this, we have too many irons in the fire. I want to be like Jesus, who “has done all things well” (Mark 7:37).
I posted this several years ago, and when I ran across it recently, I realized that it is still a good word, so I am sharing it again. I hope you find it helpful.
Great analogy! Love the comparisons you make! God bless you! ??
Thanks, Neida. I have a lot of fun working on these.
Judy, Really enjoyed this article & it is fun to think how some of those expressions originated, like: “too many irons in the fire.” I grew up in Des Moines Iowa and I also have visited Living History Farms several times and took my boys there when they were little. I wanted to say that if this is the same place you went to…it is called “Living History Farms”, Iowa is not in the title. Just thought you’d want to know. Great seeing you yesterday and we do have a fantastic group going. Talk to you again soon, Julie
Thanks, Julie. You’re right about the name. It is Living History Farms. Guess I’ll go back in and edit that!
Really good Judy. How we need to practise this.
Yes, including me! Just today I had to sit with my list again, re-prioritize and weed some things out, and put others on a “later” list . An ongoing battle!