The Prep Work
A couple of days ago I had a conversation with my cousin who runs an online bakery business. We were talking about the shortages with finding key ingredients for baking like flour, sugar, you know the basics. Because of the shortages, the baking had to be paused until supply lines open back up again. My cousin then mentioned something that I found to be really profound. During the course of baking a batch of cookies, some come out looking perfect and some come out looking, well not that great. The end batch that goes to the customer and is posted online is only the best of the best. The rest of the cookies are placed in the family cookie jar. Those cookies are studied to find out what went wrong but are eaten anyway because nothing goes to waste.
In Heaven's test kitchen lives are prepped and prepared to be put to the Master's use. In the service of the kingdom, no individual life belongs to himself or herself. Each life dedicated to the Master is to be used in service to others and to advance the kingdom of Heaven. In some of the best restaurants in the world, master chefs have something called a test kitchen. Recipes are born after multiple trials and errors to develop the perfect taste and texture before getting put on the menu. These tests are not done out in the open for the public to see. The master chef chooses the ingredients to go into the yet born recipe. These ingredients are thrown into all kinds of trials. They then are broken down, thrown into fire and water until the refining process is complete. The end result is a dish that has the chef's name placed on it as a signature dish ready for the public to consume.
God's refining process can feel lonely, disorienting, with all semblance of control having been lost. At least that is the perspective of the one going through the fire. However, the view from on high is quite different."Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another (Isaiah 48:10-11).
Every saint in the kingdom has been called to be an image-bearer of Christ Jesus. "Then God said let Us create man in Our own image, according to Our likeness (Genesis 1:26). But because of sin, there are some things that have to be purged from our hearts and consciences in order to be fit for the Master's use. We as believers in Christ represent the glory and name of God here on Earth. If our lives reflect the consequences of our own whims, our own pursuits, and our own glory then God's name is profaned in front of the world. As ambassadors of Christ we were made to bring glory to our Lord, and one defining trait about the great I AM is that He will not share His glory with another, and that includes you and me.
The Baking Process
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men so will bring offerings in righteousness, (Malachi 3:3)". On its face, the thought of being purified through fire is pretty frightening and something that I wouldn't voluntarily submit myself to. The times that I have spent in God's furnace were crushing and in many ways broke me down to my core. I would never want to go through those experiences again to be truthful. I can honestly look back and say that I am not the same woman that I was before the fire. His fire is all-consuming but God knows what temperature our lives need in order to come out pure. The American Heritage Dictionary has an interesting list of the meaning of the word refine.
- To reduce to a pure state
- To remove by purifying
- To free from coarse, unsuitable, or immoral characteristics
- To become free from impurities
- To acquire polish or elegance
- To use precise distinctions and subtlety in thought and speech.
God is preparing His people to rule and reign with Him on Earth one day. "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on Earth (Revelation 5:10)." The purpose of refining is to prepare heirs worthy of the responsibility to rule as kings in the next life and to minister as priests now in this life. Because God is a good Father, He will not entrust to babes the authority that comes with ruling in the kingdom. "Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father (Galatians 4:1-2)". Therefore it is to our benefit when we endure trials and come out of them. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12)". There will come a day when the trials will end, and for those that make it out of the Wilderness, there is great reward on the other side.
