God our Refiner

God our Refiner

The state of the Church, in particular the Western Church at the moment, gives cause for great concern. The church is under great and unprecedented attack and persecution and one has to wonder why. Even a cursory glance will tell you that the Western Church is in a sorry state right now. However, I believe the Lord is doing something about it by way of using attack and persecution to refine, cleanse, and strengthen His Bride.

Just the other day I was shocked to read in the Bible that God can send an evil spirit to someone (1 Sam 18:10) Now I read that He brings or sends grief to us too. It’s not often that the book of Lamentations is used to bring encouragement, but look at this - Lamentations 3:31-32 “For no one is cast off by the Lord for ever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”

Here, God’s Word is telling us that He brings grief. It doesn’t say how He brings it but one example must be Job. In Jesus time, we could cite the family of Lazarus, whose death Jesus redeemed by raising him from the dead. As Jesus said that the only unforgiveable sin is to blaspheme Holy Spirit, which I think very few people have ever managed to do, then everything else is redeemable.

Having brought us grief, the Word then goes on to say, in Jeremiah 46:28 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you,’ declares the Lord.

. . . . I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’”

Now this goes against what was said about Job because God allowed Job to be tested by bringing him grief, yet here He suggests that God also allows grief as a punishment. Even so, it is never in His mind to leave us wallowing in grief and despair. In Isaiah 54:7-8, 10, His Word says “‘For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer.”  Then in verse 10, He says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

Yes, I believe the Lord is refining us through persecution and troubles, not in a ‘great tribulation’ sense but in the sense of preparing to revive the church. Don’t get me wrong here, the global church is growing right now at a rate unprecedented in history. Yet the great ‘final’ harvest is still to come and our Lord is preparing us for that event as never before.

Why? Because it is getting closer that’s why.