Devotion: You're being processed
Devotion By Dianna Hobbs // Your Daily Cup of Inspiration
When I was in my teens my dream job was to work in a clothing boutique at the local mall. I viewed the folks that worked in those tiny women’s department stores as highfalutin and special. I wanted to be like them.
I was eager to take home my own paycheck and to feel like I was heading down the right path on my journey to adulthood. So I put in my application and eagerly waited for them to call me back. Days went by and nothing happened.
Feeling confused and impatient, I decided to call the store back and check on the status of my application.
I was told, “Your application is still being processed.”
What did that even mean? I wondered. How long did this processing thing take? Time was ticking away, and I was ready to step into my new position. Eventually, my application was process and approved. I was called in for an interview, and I got the job. I was one happy girl!
The processing period isn’t unique to jobs. We all have stretches of time when we must wait for a process of some sort to be completed before we can step into a new position, or a new season. That’s even true in our journey of faith. The kind of processing we go through in this regard is what I call refinement.
It is a testing period where trials, tribulations and difficulties are allowed into your life to root out impurities, and make you better. You see, in God’s Kingdom, there are some places you can’t step into without being processed. Keep this in mind if you feel like you’re stagnant and you desperately want to see increase, elevation, and breakthrough.
“Don’t get discouraged by this trial. Know that God is processing and refining you. He’s completing the work on your character, shifting your mindset and building you up for what’s coming next.”
Malachi 3:2 describes God as a “refiner’s fire,” which makes perfect sense. A refiner heats metal until it liquefies and changes to its molten state. This makes it easy for the refiner to separate the dross, or the impurities, from the metal. This is the kind purification process gold and silver goes through. These precious metals must be heated to extremely high temperatures to get rid of any waste that can bring down their value.
If you’re going through today, God is getting rid of all the stuff that brings down your value and hinders you from becoming all He wants you to be.
Even the Apostle Paul had to be processed before he could be used by God in great ways. In Acts 9, when his name was Saul and he was busy persecuting the Church, there needed to be a transformation in him. He needed to come to know the truth of who Christ was.
According to verse, while on the road to Damascus, Saul heard a voice from Heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
And so the story goes on to tell us Saul was introduced to Jesus that day. But something else happened: God stripped Paul of his eyesight. This was the processing phase. Saul had to be afflicted physically, so he could be liberated spiritually. His natural eyes were closed so his spiritual eyes could be opened.
After God did the internal work in Paul’s heart, then He graciously restored Saul’s physical sight. In verse 18, the Bible says, “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.”
Those scales, which represented the dross, the impurities, and that old dead stuff inside Saul, dropped off. And suddenly, by the power of God, he was brand new. Saul had been sufficiently processed and refined, and was now ready to be used to build God’s Kingdom.
Isn’t that amazing? That’s just the way God works. He processes you first, and then does great works through you. So if you’re waiting for the manifestation of your season of greater, hang in there. It’s on the way.
I know your processing phase may be painful, frustrating and rough, but trust God. You’re going higher. You will do everything He has placed you on this earth to do. This test will not break you; it will build you up. When you come out as pure gold, you will shine brightly for the glory of the Lord.
To strengthen and encourage you, I’m stirring 2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV into your cup of inspiration, which says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, know that this is working for you, as God is working on you, so He can ultimately get glory through you.
Be encouraged.
Now let’s pray.
God, my processing phase is difficult. And yet, I trust You. I know You love me, and I believe You have greater things in store for me. I will patiently wait for my breakthrough with full confidence that Your timing, strategy, and will is perfect in every season. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
