Wednesday Word:

You want me to do what?

Isaiah 43:2: When you walk through the waters, I will be with you, and the storms, they will not overcome you. When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you.

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United and thanks for making the time to take the time to join me for some encouragement in the journey. Grab your Strand of Faith and let’s go tie some knots in the fire…yes, I said fire, but don’t worry, we won’t get burned!
So last week was a pretty hellish-type week for me. The more I go through, the more I realize He’s much more invested in my character than my comfort, for it’s my character that will go with me into eternity! It takes me a while. Think about it: Why would the enemy, described as the one who lurks around like a hungry lion look for the guy that’s already out there building his kingdom of little minions and creating more evil? No way, Jose! He’s working overtime on those who profess to follow Christ! Sometimes, don’t you just want to cry “Uncle”?!

We’ve all heard that things can happen in threes, well, I’ve experienced that phenomena more times than I care to recount, but how many times do we realize that God can play that game, too? See, for every trial there’s a blessing of sorts, a reward, whether here or there. I happen to believe that there is a piece of the reward always given here, and though it doesn’t look like something we’d delight in, even choose as a prize, it has a powerful eternal value: It’s called refinement!

Did I lose you? Don’t go yet. Let me share what happened:

A couple weeks ago, I purchased a new court reporting machine – her name is Plum! – I could hardly wait to write on her and watch my steno notes magically clean up, and my speed increase all the while making it look effortless! WRONG!

Of course it didn’t help that her initiation was with the fastest, one of the most sarcastic attorneys I’ve ever worked with – I truly like him; don’t get me wrong, but he’s impossible to make a verbatim record for. As I sat through four days of sexual harassment allegations, our ministry’s computer was in the hospital because it had crashed.

You might be saying, so what; that doesn’t sound so bad. It gets better. I have learned, albeit the hard way, that it’s going to take  hours of analyzing, diagnostic testing, one key at a time before Plum will understand how I write!@#%^& so I had to just sit in this and be patient in the process. And all the things that needed to be done like yesterday at the office were put on the back burner, piling up like a sink full of dirty dishes.

And so I truly sat in all of this, after having my fit, and tried to be calm. It was the third thing that really sent me over: Our assistant has gone on to greener pastures and gave notice. When he did, I balled like a baby, right in front of him!

In the midst of all this, our sweet little Bryden was visiting for a week and it was expected that I would be available, and then of course there were some interpersonal things going on as well. I knew I needed some knee time because I was spiraling out of sanity faster than my favorite roller coaster, and it wasn’t fun.

When I did get on my face, and cry out to Him, I begged for relief, and asked Him to please explain to me why so many fires were coming my way. Furthermore, I let Him know I wasn’t a fire-fighter, didn’t sign up for that position, no way, no how!

What I heard rendered me humbled…and quiet…finally! “Just sit in it!”

“You want me to do what?”

“Just sit in it!”

I sat still and pondered His message and realized I had been acting like a petulant child who needed a diaper changed; that when trials come, I just want them over so I can continue on with His purpose for my life as I think it is. But now I get it; sitting in the fire, not asking for relief but trusting I will not be burned by the flames, instead, He will use the flames to burn away that which needs to go, refining me more into His image that I might do mighty things in His name. This truth renders me cool as a cucumber in the midst of the fires!

So when trials, troubles come your way, and you want to dodge the flames, maybe you can try just chilling in the heat and see what He does!
Being refined,

Evinda