Sometimes the process of living can be exhausting. Learning through mistakes, spreading wings without getting scorched from the fires, the falls, bumps and bruises mark our path. Pain, joy, the beauty seen through the ugly...all leave images in our minds.
The world is one big threshing floor, constantly filtering the strong from the weak, the high achievers from the sloths, the good from the bad. Not to be avoided, that floor is where we walk, where we reside.
It is the separating, you see, the winnowing away of the undesirables that bring the anguish, because it illuminates the disparity, the utter grief that only knowledge and confession can bring to fruition.
Without the threshing floors, humility would be forever hidden from my sight. Self-importance would build high within me; self-sufficiency would be my honor and pride. Communication with others would recede to oblivion for my needs would be covered by my own abilities. Any leadership skills I possess would be tarnished and made weak.
I would that He have no occasion to bring me here again. I would that finally and forever His spirit would live so strongly in me that my walk would be blameless.
Then life interrupts, the world intrudes, my attention is grabbed, my guard let down. Silently and stealthy come the selfish desires and controlling attitudes, and sometimes, I am drawn in.
Thankfully, our faithful God will never leave me; and therefore, the threshing floor is brought anew and the lessons relearned, the faith revived, His truths refortified in my heart, and I live again for Him.
The process can be brutal but the end result is pure.
The world is one big threshing floor, constantly filtering the strong from the weak, the high achievers from the sloths, the good from the bad. Not to be avoided, that floor is where we walk, where we reside.
It is the separating, you see, the winnowing away of the undesirables that bring the anguish, because it illuminates the disparity, the utter grief that only knowledge and confession can bring to fruition.
Without the threshing floors, humility would be forever hidden from my sight. Self-importance would build high within me; self-sufficiency would be my honor and pride. Communication with others would recede to oblivion for my needs would be covered by my own abilities. Any leadership skills I possess would be tarnished and made weak.
"I have learned through the lives of great leaders that greatness comes from humility and being at times, self-effacing." ~ Patrick DanielOh, there have been many threshing floors in my life and the expectation of more in the future is high. Resenting that thought, my heart is at once struck with the lowliness of my faults, the utter failure to be perfect in God's sight.
I would that He have no occasion to bring me here again. I would that finally and forever His spirit would live so strongly in me that my walk would be blameless.
Then life interrupts, the world intrudes, my attention is grabbed, my guard let down. Silently and stealthy come the selfish desires and controlling attitudes, and sometimes, I am drawn in.
Thankfully, our faithful God will never leave me; and therefore, the threshing floor is brought anew and the lessons relearned, the faith revived, His truths refortified in my heart, and I live again for Him.
The process can be brutal but the end result is pure.
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. (Micah 4:12)Recognize your threshing floors, welcome them for the cleansing they provide. Endure and learn, because the maturity in Christ cannot continue until the humility of our lives is perceived and encouraged, until we recognize that this life is meant to live together, loving one another as He has also loved us.
