Does this season look bleak to you?
Has the thought of a new year caused heaviness in your soul rather than joy?
Maybe there have been moments where you have asked the Lord with tears streaming down your face, "When will this pressure/storm/wilderness season end?"
Things may look dark and the pressure may feel unbearable, but you are not alone, my friend. Jesus wants to weather the storms with you. He wants to hold you within the shelter of His strong arms.
Perhaps this season has been one of refinement in your life.
Refinement often comes in an uncomfortable format, however, it leaves behind a treasure in its wake.
Pearls are formed in the midst of discomfort and irritation.
Diamonds are formed under conditions of intense heat and pressure.
The refinement of gold uses hot fire. In this process, the dross (impurities) rise to the surface and are scooped away by the refiner. The fire is kept at a maximum temperature until the refiner can see his/her reflection in the molten gold.
Pure gold reflects like a mirror.
In our own lives, if we are following after Jesus there will be moments or seasons of intense heat and pressure. These are meant to refine us and become a catalyst for what God wants to do in and through us. There will be a lot of junk that rises to the surface such as insecurities, pride, selfishness, irritation, etc. If we allow Him, the Holy Spirit will come and scoop away those impurities until we reflect Him.
These things that rise to the surface are not meant to be ignored with the hope that they will dissolve on their own. They have to be addressed through repentance and placed into His hands.
"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."
1 Peter 1:7 (New Living Translation)
"Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed."
1 Peter 1:7 (Good News Translation)
"For You have put us to the test, God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon us.
You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water.
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance."
Psalm 66:10-12 (New American Standard Bible)
Refinement is not a punishment. It has joy waiting at the end.
I know it may seem like eternity, but refinement does not last forever. It is a momentary discomfort that adds value.
"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (New Living Translation)
When the pressure mounts we can find rest for our souls as well as hope for our hearts by leaning on God - His character and His promises.
This hope is an anchor for our souls.
The way the Amplified Translation expounds Paul’s writing of the following passage is so powerful and rich. If you only read one of the passages I have included in this post, please read this one.
Savor each line and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
"And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises...
In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 6:11-12, 17-20 (Amplified Translation)
We just celebrated Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. The good news is that His victory is not limited to one Sunday a year.
Jesus is our hope in every circumstance. We can look to Him, our safe and steadfast hope.
He knows better than anyone how pressure feels. He experienced the greatest pressure while praying in the garden of Gethsemane, before facing the cross, where His sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). The medical field categorizes what Jesus experienced as Hematohidrosis or Hematidrosis and it is the result of conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress (Jerajani, Jaju, Phiske, & Lade, 2009). Even extreme stress could not deter Him from the cross and being our ransom.
Now, He reigns victorious and He resides in you through the Holy Spirit!
"to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Colossians 1:27 (New American Standard Bible)
"May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith.
And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love];
and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]."
Ephesians 3:16-19 (Amplified Translation)
Friend, through the power and strength of the Holy Spirit living in you, you can walk through pressure and come out radiant.
You have a hope that you can hold onto in every circumstance. This hope does not disappoint.
Keep holding on. This is going to be worth it.
Embrace Jesus. Press into His presence. Hold fast to His precious promises, for they will surely come to pass.
He who promised is faithful and when the timing is right He will make it happen (Hebrews 10:23 & Isaiah 60:22).
Good things are waiting for you.
Cheering you on,
Rose-Élise Melodie
References
Jerajani, H. R., Jaju, B., Phiske, M. M., & Lade, N. (2009). Hematohidrosis - a rare clinical phenomenon. Indian journal of dermatology, 54(3), 290–292. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5154.55645
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