“I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder; marvelous are Your works, and You know me completely” (Ps. 139:14).
I dare you to say this out loud. Go ahead—do it now!
You are a marvelous work of God, and so are the people around you. However, it is easy for us to be mistaken about how strong we really are. There is a process of strength training we must undergo in order to realize our full potential.
“Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron; your hoofs I will make bronze, and you will shatter many peoples. I will devote their pillage to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth” (Micah 4:13).
More often than not, we develop spiritual strength from times of threshing and refining. When such seasons come, you are not meant to hide in the dark and hope for an escape. You are meant to be a bearer of light and hope. You are meant to be unbeatable, unconquerable and unshakable. You must be trained so you can live at optimum level.
To accomplish this transformation, Jesus is willing to shock us into true action. There is no need to respond to His refining process with guilt or condemnation. God is honest about our spiritual condition because He loves us! Instead of responding with shame, let’s find our feet, turn around and run hard after God.
“Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19).
Are you in a refining season? Embrace it. Allow the Holy Spirit to assess your strength in the light of God’s Word. Let your hardship become a training session, knowing you can rise up from it invincible. You are wonderfully made, and you were made to display God’s wonder. We need you fearless and strong!
Adapted from Lioness Arising: Wake Up and Change Your World (WaterBrook Press, 2010) by Lisa Bevere.
