On the World Race we do something called feedback. Each night our team comes together to debrief the day, and along with that we give ‘feedback’ to each other on what we’ve seen in that person throughout the day. We give each other both positive and constructive feedback. At first it seemed like a strange practice to me…but as we’ve been doing it I’ve found more and more how feedback helps us be refined and step more into the person the Lord desires in us.
Our team has also been talking recently about the Holy Spirit and how through the Spirit we are able to tested, refined and led to mirror more clearly the image of God. We were reminded in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire (do not quench the Spirit’s fire).” We have to allow room for the Spirit to work in our lives, even if at times it means trial or suffering. The end goal of our suffering is refinement.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.”
The Lord calls himself a refiner and there are so many references in scripture about the refiner’s fire.
Malachi 3:3-4 “For he will be like a refiner’s fire…He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.”
If you aren’t familiar with the process of the refinement of metal, I’ll give you a refresher: “Silver ore and scrap silver have to go through a refining process in order for the pure silver to be separated from the dross. Cupellation is when it is heated to 1,200 degrees Celsius in a special furnace; the heat causes a chemical reaction and allows the impurities to be removed from the silver.” – Ehow.com
I know this year is going to be one of refinement, in fact I’m praying for it. I know the Lord desires to expose and draw out the impurities in me. I know the main avenues He will do that through is by his Spirit and through my teammates in this process called feedback. I know it will be hard to have the ugly things in me called out, but I desire that honest and bold feedback that will allow me to take those impurities to the Father to be refined out.
1 Peter 1:7 “These have come (trials) so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
The Lord’s desire is not to burn us in the fire, it’s not to shame us and it’s not to put us into a spirit of despair…His desire is to walk through it with us and as we feel the heat of the refinement, to mold us and shape us more into His image as He removes the things in us that don’t reflect Him.
Isaiah 43: 2b-3a “But when you walk through the fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”
The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is one of my favorites, and just illustrates so perfectly how the Lord is intimately walking with us through the trials and fires of life.
Daniel 3: 24- 27 “’Weren’t there three men we tied up and threw in the fire?’…’Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like the son of the gods.’…They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was the hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.”
…not even a scent of fire remained on them. Wow the Lord is faithful and His plans for us are good!!
If you feel like you are in a season of suffering, trial, or fire in this life, remember there is purpose in it. The Lord may be trying to draw out the impurities in you and take you through the process of refinement. Don’t run from it, press into the refinement and allow Him to complete His work in you. Although at times the fire may be uncomfortable and painful, the Lord is right beside you and will not let you be harmed; and in fact, if you let Him, He will bring you out more shiny and pure than when you entered.
Zechariah 13:9 “This third (speaking of a portion of people who follow Him) I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
We are His people, He is our God. He deisres refinement and change in us. Will you press in and allow yourself to be transformed by the hands of your Maker, or will you turn away and put out the Spirit's fire?
“So set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain that I can’t control, I want more of you God, I want more of you God” ~Will Reagan and United Pursuit Band
…hopefully soon I'll be able to write more about the refinement process inside of me and some of the impurities He is drawing out! Here we go…bring on the fire 🙂
