A friend is trapped by his soul in a crucible that God is using to free him from the idols in his soul. BUT he keeps getting out of the crucible.
It is so very important to stay in the crucible God creates for us. There are three elements to every crucible that we must master.
1. Time.
2. Pressure
3. Heart
My sainted mother used to pressure cook beef that was too tough to eat any other way. She would but the big steel pot on the stove and put on the lid and this round thing on top that would allow some steam to escape. We kids loved to come in and stomp on the ground. It caused the pressure to escape and she would say, "All your doing is delaying dinner." The meat needed a certain amount of time to become tender. The lower the pressure the longer the time needed to break down the toughness of the meat. Same with God and His crucibles - if we keep taking breaks with the world, sex and sin, we lengthen the time that is going to be needed to become what God is wanting from us.
One may use TV, sports, pornography, anger, alcohol, sex, games, friends to escape the pressure of what God is doing in our lives. We need to learn how to be still and trust Him and let His heat, His time and His pressure have its work in our life.
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Justice
I was overwhelmed with pain the other day. I saw a Spiritual Director who was/is friends with a person that has done me great hurt. We talked, were polite. Afterward, I was overwhelmed with grief and pain. I forgave again. This time I decided to YADA the pain. Yada is the Hebrew word for knowing intimately.
First be quiet. Then be still and then rest. And then listen and finally reflect back what my heart heard.
I heard Justice as I YADA'd this person's name. I said their full name and worked through being quiet, being still, resting. The grief overwhelmed me. It was good to release it again. I so want to be done with this person and this pain. Justice. Not sure I want justice. I have lived, survived and thrived off of God's wonderful mercy time and time again. I am not interested in seeing God call to justice my sins, secret and known. I tremble but God was gently leading me down a path. I could tell it was Him. So I spoke the word JUSTICE. I then worked my way through YADA saying the word JUSTICE and this man's name. Slowly and carefully through each step, Quiet, Still, Rest, Listen and Reflect.
After breathing, walking, resting my way through YADA I then wrote down three words related to JUSTICE.
1. Money
2. Reputation
3. Time
I spent the next few days praying through these three. I arrived at a number, roughly of what was lost due to their actions. I was surprised. The number was horrific.
I recorded what would have to be done to temper the damage done to my reputation. The dollar amount made sense and could be somewhat recaptured. Yet the reputation was difficult. Ouch. This would last a lifetime. The arrow that was shot would affect me and my children for life. There are those who would not have anything to do with me because of their words. There are those who hesitate to have anything to do with me because of their words.
Finally, time. The time is lost. The opportunities lost. This cannot be recovered. Justice for time lost?
First be quiet. Then be still and then rest. And then listen and finally reflect back what my heart heard.
I heard Justice as I YADA'd this person's name. I said their full name and worked through being quiet, being still, resting. The grief overwhelmed me. It was good to release it again. I so want to be done with this person and this pain. Justice. Not sure I want justice. I have lived, survived and thrived off of God's wonderful mercy time and time again. I am not interested in seeing God call to justice my sins, secret and known. I tremble but God was gently leading me down a path. I could tell it was Him. So I spoke the word JUSTICE. I then worked my way through YADA saying the word JUSTICE and this man's name. Slowly and carefully through each step, Quiet, Still, Rest, Listen and Reflect.
After breathing, walking, resting my way through YADA I then wrote down three words related to JUSTICE.
1. Money
2. Reputation
3. Time
I spent the next few days praying through these three. I arrived at a number, roughly of what was lost due to their actions. I was surprised. The number was horrific.
I recorded what would have to be done to temper the damage done to my reputation. The dollar amount made sense and could be somewhat recaptured. Yet the reputation was difficult. Ouch. This would last a lifetime. The arrow that was shot would affect me and my children for life. There are those who would not have anything to do with me because of their words. There are those who hesitate to have anything to do with me because of their words.
Finally, time. The time is lost. The opportunities lost. This cannot be recovered. Justice for time lost?
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