Faithful in the Fire
In California's Sequoia National Park are magnificent sequoia trees that are over three hundred feet tall and can live over two thousand years. What's significant is that the sequoia's cones are full of seeds that are locked up inside and require fire or insects or animals to be opened. Fire dries out the cones, enabling them to crack open and deposit their seeds on the forest floor. Then the seeds are able to germinate and become what they were created to be. The fire is necessary for new growth.
In a similar way, there are seeds that are locked up in you--seeds of favor, seeds of greatness, seeds of purpose. The only way they'll come out is through fire--the business slows, a friend walks away, the medical report isn't good. It's easy to get discouraged and water down your dreams. But God won't allow a difficulty unless He has a purpose for it. There is potential locked up in you that will only come out through adversity. There are gifts and talents that you won't discover without going through times when it's uncomfortable and you don't understand.
David says, "God enlarged me in my distress" (Psalm 4:1). He doesn't say, "God enlarged me in my good times." He says, "God enlarged me when I faced a giant, when King Saul was trying to kill me, when my own father didn't believe in me." It was only in those fires of adversity that David discovered talent, courage, favor, and greatness he didn't know he had.
You may be in the fire now, thinking, "God, what's going on in my life? This trouble is setting me back." No, it's setting you up. What you can't see is that God is enlarging you. You're about to step into new levels of your destiny. You're going to see new growth, new opportunities, new talent. It couldn't happen without the fire. There's favor coming in that fire, there's promotion in that fire, there's freedom in that fire. The fire is opening up things that you would have never seen. Don't fight the fire; stay faithful in the fire. The right attitude is: "God, I don't like it, but I trust You. I know You're in control. You wouldn't have allowed this difficulty unless it was making me better."
God will not mismanage your life. He knows how much heat you can handle. He controls the thermostat. If that fire was going to burn you up, He wouldn't have allowed it. You are well able, you are strong in the Lord, and you are full of can-do power. That fire is releasing you into new levels. The fire is a part of God's plan so you can become everything you were created to be.
In a similar way, there are seeds that are locked up in you--seeds of favor, seeds of greatness, seeds of purpose. The only way they'll come out is through fire--the business slows, a friend walks away, the medical report isn't good. It's easy to get discouraged and water down your dreams. But God won't allow a difficulty unless He has a purpose for it. There is potential locked up in you that will only come out through adversity. There are gifts and talents that you won't discover without going through times when it's uncomfortable and you don't understand.
David says, "God enlarged me in my distress" (Psalm 4:1). He doesn't say, "God enlarged me in my good times." He says, "God enlarged me when I faced a giant, when King Saul was trying to kill me, when my own father didn't believe in me." It was only in those fires of adversity that David discovered talent, courage, favor, and greatness he didn't know he had.
You may be in the fire now, thinking, "God, what's going on in my life? This trouble is setting me back." No, it's setting you up. What you can't see is that God is enlarging you. You're about to step into new levels of your destiny. You're going to see new growth, new opportunities, new talent. It couldn't happen without the fire. There's favor coming in that fire, there's promotion in that fire, there's freedom in that fire. The fire is opening up things that you would have never seen. Don't fight the fire; stay faithful in the fire. The right attitude is: "God, I don't like it, but I trust You. I know You're in control. You wouldn't have allowed this difficulty unless it was making me better."
God will not mismanage your life. He knows how much heat you can handle. He controls the thermostat. If that fire was going to burn you up, He wouldn't have allowed it. You are well able, you are strong in the Lord, and you are full of can-do power. That fire is releasing you into new levels. The fire is a part of God's plan so you can become everything you were created to be.