The Journey

So, I'm sitting here in the Columbus/Ft. Benning Airport waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting...2 hours of waiting. As I look around, I see many others doing the same thing. Everyone handling "the wait" in a different way. Some people are eating. Some people are chatting it up with their friends or fellow wait-ers. One military guy is sleeping on the floor no less. I started thinking...as Christians, how do we wait? I'm not refering to waiting on our order at our favorite restaurant or a flight home or even in line at the grocery. How do we wait on the Lord? In my journey, I have had and still have long periods of waiting. Each time the wait has been worth it! The outcome has usually been different and better than what I had hoped or imagined! David tells us in Psalm 40:1 (AMP) "I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry." Everyone has their own walk, their own journey, and their own times of waiting....

The past couple of months have been difficult. Nothing earth-shattering has happened, no tragedies. I have been looking in the mirror of my soul. I have seen some ugly things. These "things" always come up when I pray earnestly for a clean heart. I'm referring to heart matters such as envy, jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, idolatry, even. It's the ugliness I see when I say, "Father, that I might melt into you!" You see in order to become one with Christ, He has to clean us up. He has to bring those unsightly things to the surface that we try to bury inside (all the while praying no one else sees them) in order for us to deal with them. This is The Refiner's Fire. The fire that burns out the dross to bring forth gold. That same fire referenced in Malachi 3:2 which states, "...He will be like a refiner's fire or the launderer's soap." John the Baptist foretells of Jesus' coming with "His winnowing fan...