Refining Process

I'm talking to those of us who are in a season of shifting.  

It's not a midlife crisis, necessarily, more like a mid-life refinement.

You've been in this refining process for so long that you are starting to think things might stay this way forever.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Praying.

Doubting.

Freaking out.

Panicking.

Fading.

Why-ing.

How-ing.

When-ing.

The shifting season of refinement is a funky time when God works with us to remove our impurities and free us from what is holding us back so we can move forward.

Refining feels like you are lost and in some weird waiting room. You don't want to return to who you were or where you've been, but you aren't sure who you will be or where you are going.

And may I say the music playing in this room of waiting is really quite awful.

I think I once heard an instrumental version of a jazzed-up rendition of a hair band rock song from the '90s.

Not good. Not good at all.

But despite the music, uncomfortable chairs, and outdated magazines we've flipped through 300 hundred times while we wait, a lot is happening behind the scenes, even if we can't see or feel it.

God’s refining process requires patience, faith, and trust.

This process, while necessary, is not easy when you are an inpatient, controlling, action-oriented, get-it-done kind of person- or so I've heard.

I get itchy and annoyed when waiting for anything, if I'm being honest.

Ask my kids how I behave when I sit in traffic or wait in lines.

But it is in these times of waiting that God refines and strengthens.

A dear friend reminded me that just like babies need a lot of sleep to grow, sometimes we need to wait and rest for God to refine and develop us.

When the process passes (when, not if), you will come through it with wisdom and strength that only comes through the refinement of waiting and trusting.  

I have found that these waiting rooms of refinement are often smack dab in the middle of suffering.

The harder the suffering and shifting are, the more refined you become.

The refining process is not a fun time, but when we come out the other end, we are more stunning and valuable than when we began.

If we let Him, God can remove our impurities and imperfections, and each time He refines us, we get closer to the original design He intended for us.

I imagine God wearing a welding mask, burning off all the things that we started putting on as we journeyed through this life.

One by one, each blemish, each unnecessary burden, is removed, and we are purified more and more to become all God intended us to be.

And that is worth the wait, even with the worst music playing in the background.

Keep the faith, my friend.

The wait is almost over, and what lies behind that door ahead will be the best version of you that you have ever seen!

Psalm 66: 8-10

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

1 Peter 12:13

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

Psalm 51: 10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.