Since I have started the race, I have been praying for the Lord to refine me. I asked Him to mold, shape, and polish me to be the man of God (MOG) that he desires me to be. Zechariah chapter 13 verses 8-9 read: “In the whole land, declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put them 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.” These verses have been stuck in my mind since I prayed for God to refine me. I told God that I am ready to be refined and to become more of a MOG than what I already am. This race has been a great refining process for me. I have been pressing into the uncomfortable things that are a part of the race and I feel like I have been doing well at going through this refining process with our Lord and Savior. One Saturday night during the soaking prayer group in Nepal, I received an image from the Holy Spirit. The soaking prayer is led by Iris ministries, and it is a time where anyone can come and soak in the presence of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing planned, only worship music and two chairs in the middle of a living room for people to receive prayer. The night is completely led by the Holy Spirit, and whenever the last person leaves the night is finished. During this time I was journaling, which is something I never do during worship, and I decided to do a listening prayer for myself. This is the image I got from the Holy Spirit.
Apparently there is way more to come of this refining process. At the time, I really wasn’t sure what this meant or what it would look like in the future. I believe I found one area the Lord is going to refine me in though. The day after I received this image I was asked to be one of the next team leaders for the upcoming team changes, so it seems like leadership is the next area the Lord is going to refine me in. Looking back, it is apparent to me that God is calling me into some form of leadership. He has given me a ton of opportunities to learn leadership; from my first job at McDonough Auto Service, to youth ministry, to leading a hazmat clean up team and now this! I have always been a little unconfident in leading, but I have accepted the fact that He has been calling me into this for the past year and a half. I am really excited to go through this next season of refining and learning how to lead the way God wants me to lead.
