Striking The Steel

There was a man who was trying to earn money to go on a mission. He prayed and he prayed to find a job. Finally he was blessed with a job taking out guardrails on the road so that newer and better ones could be constructed. Upon taking the job, he was told he would be paid for the number of guardrails he separated from the cement blocks. His company wanted to recycle the metal and needed to separate it from its concrete pilings. The young man didn't realize how difficult it would be to remove the hardened cement from the metal.

Day after day he hammered and pounded to break free the metal guardrail. Bit by bit small pieces would break free but he knew that he needed to go faster. He prayed fervently to know how to work more effectively. A tiny voice answered him, 'Strike the steel.' He didn't pay attention because he figured God simply wanted him to work harder. He got a solid 9-pound mallet and began to beat the cement with greater fervor, but progress was still frustratingly slow.

He went to Heavenly Father again in prayer and asked the same thing. Again he heard clearly, 'Strike the Steel.' The young man wasn't sure what that meant, so he figured that he still wasn't working hard enough and he bought a bigger mallet and a railroad spike to chisel at the cement with more strength and accuracy. There was a little more progress bit still not enough. Finally, in desperation he knelt and fervently asked Heavenly Father what he should do. Again came the answer, 'Strike the Steel.'



After pondering the statement, the young man began to hit the steel guardrail instead of the cement. He noticed to his complete astonishment that the cement began to break free of the posts. The tough cement encasements cracked, crumbled, and fell away from the steel posts as his now-powerful mallet strokes reverberated through them. The concrete, once formidable, now fell away like dirt. That day he freed more rails of cement than he had the entire summer.



The young man learned that whenever we are doing something and it's not working, we should try a different approach. the answer to his prayer was simple- 'Work smarter, not harder.'