Fires leave barren and desolate, floods leave stripped clean – come how You must.
This was my cry at the beginning of the race. I had a moment where I realized that my prayer and my worship had just become words and they weren’t the desires of my heart. I would say ‘break me’ because the next line in the song was ‘You are everything I need’. I wanted God to be everything I needed, but I didn’t really want to give up the other ‘everything’ that I thought I needed. So, I prayed this prayer.
I thought I would know what that breaking would look like. It would be messy enough to look good, but not so messy that I was left desolate. It would hurt, but not so much that it would strip back everything I thought I knew. Funny, because those are the exact things I prayed. And God, being faithful, answered this prayer. And His answer absolutely w r e c k e d me. It left me on the floor everyday in tears. It left me, I felt, broken beyond repair. And it left me pleading for Him and only Him.
As I was walking through this season, while listening to a playlist I put together, the song Another In The Fire by Hillsong United started playing. I had heard the song before, but I had never heard it while being in a fire myself. Before, it was a song I sang because it sounded great, but when I heard it this time it led me to look at all the times there was ‘another in the fire’. And here are some of the stories God pointed me to.
•Another in the fire led to the king turning to God and the three men promoted in the kingdom.
•Another in the den led to the proclamation of God over the land and Daniel brought up to the right hand of the king.
•Another in the wilderness led to the freedom of the nation of God.
•Another in the prison led to further proclamation of the Gospel and ministry than the apostles could have imagined.
•Another at the well led to an intimacy with a God who was not “her God” by everyone else’s definition. (Woman at the well)
•Another in the pit led to more blessing than before, a long life, and more love for his Father. (Job)
•Another in the darkness leads to restoration and blessing through His name.
While walking through the darkness, the pit, the fire, I continued crying out ‘what is the point of this? How does this further your name?’ And He brought me to these stories. Walking through a fire means that you will also walk through a time of proclamation that is greater than you could have before imagined. He will always stand, sit, or crawl in the fire with you, and after the fire you will discover you desire Him more than ever before.
What would your walk with the Lord look like if you gave Him permission, truly gave Him permission, to clean house. To bring New Wine. To break you. To press against what you know. I guarantee you, it will leave you crying out for HIS WILL again and again. You will begin to find joy in each fire, in each battle, because that is truly where He is.
