What do you think of when you think of California? Earthquakes? Surfing? Hollywood & Celebrities? Those would all be correct, but what if I told you all I think about are it's Forest Fires? Sinister, I know! I'm about to make a cross country move to the state everyone thinks will suddenly fall off into the Pacific Ocean, but let me share with you how the Lord has been speaking to me about something I was terrified about, but now embrace............
In Part 1 of this blog, the verse below from Matthew begins to come alive and we see how God is so intentional with the trials of life to make us better. He's just awesome that way. In case you missed part 1, please pause, click here to read it and catch up.
Matthew 3:10 says, "Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the FIRE!." (Emphasis on fire, made by yours truly)
There are some people that want or feel like they need every detail of a planned surgery. They look up videos on YouTube and spend countless hours on WebMd to prepare themselves of what's to come. Then there are some of us who are like, "just give me enough anesthesia and wake me up when it's all over." But I believe God actually wants us to be a part of the pruning and refining process. He wants our cooperation and obedience before lighting that flame. I wish more people realized and understood that He will not go against our will. I've learned this to be true about Him, that He doesn't take control until we relinquish it.
So, all this talk about fire and flames,
What does FIRE actually look like in real life?
Think of it as repeated lessons, trials, messages, dreams, interventions all centered around removal of our bad habits. Seasons of humility, seasons of required trust, of waiting and fasting. Exercising discipline with our thought life and our actions. Removal or letting go of unhealthy toxic relationships which aren't always as easy to walk away from as you'd think they would be. Leaving harmful social circles or environments that aren't conducive to your personal growth. Think of FIRE represents anything that is painful, so to speak. Maybe it's a job that you absolutely despise but have to admit that you're learning so much while being employed there.
What does Refinement look like?
That may be something as simple as you biting your tongue when you REALLY want to tell someone off. Things that help refine us are usually defined by situations more painful to the ego, but it's all a part of the pruning process, getting rid of our old nature, the UN-healed version of ourselves and becoming a new creation. Refinement will look different for everyone and so will each person's trial by fire experience. There's no doubt that the process is never a pretty one. It's where we still smell like smoke......until we don't anymore. Although the process isn't pretty, doesn't mean that it isn't necessary. The gift of the Holy Spirit and baptism in the Spirit is actually how this happens a lot faster and somehow supernaturally equips us to deal with these heated trials when we feel like life is really just too much to bear.
“He doesn't take control of our lives until we relinquish it.”
Have you ever seen the purification process of gold? If you're not familiar with jewelry making or gold's purifying process, let me try to break it down how it was explained to me. The gold maker melts down all the bits and pieces of collected gold into a huge furnace. Over time these pieces were part of society as jewelry, coins, parts of hardware etc. So you can imagine its collected dust and a ton of other contaminants over time. So the gold maker starts to turn up the heat on the furnace to melt it down while simultaneously skimming off the impurities or dross that rise to the surface of the liquid gold. This process keeps happening, the Refiner keeps turning up the heat until more and more dirt and grime separates itself from the gold, as it continues to rise to the surface he continues to skim it off. Over and over again. So how does the refiner know when the gold is "ready"?
When he can see his reflection in the liquid gold!!!!! Ummmmmm, wow!!
I'm going to leave you with that. Let you think about it and chew on it. The Bible mentions the refining and purifying process a few times but I like what Psalm 66:10-12 says about it. I say all this to say is don't despise the heat. It's for our good.
Be on the lookout, and make sure you subscribe here for notification when the next post is hot off the keyboard. In the meantime, I encourage you to read Matthew 3 and John 15 for more on what the Word has to say about completely getting rid of anything that doesn't bear fruit in our lives.
Happy Healing!
Love,
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