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REFINED FOR A PURPOSE — Conversation I: What If the Intervention Was About You? · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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  Welcome to Pimoja Ministry, and welcome to our
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  new season focused on God's highest purpose for
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  your life. There are seasons in life when all
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  you want is for God to intervene. You have prayed.
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  You have fasted. You have waited. You have asked
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  God to move what you cannot move, change what
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  you cannot change, open what you cannot open,
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  and remove what you cannot remove. And sometimes,
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  God does exactly that. He opens the door. He
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  moves the opposition. He changes the circumstances.
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  He reverses the battle. He makes a way where
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  there appeared to be no way. We have spent time
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  exploring this mystery of divine intervention.
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  Those moments when human ability reaches its
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  limit and God steps into circumstances in ways
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  only he can. But today, I want us to go deeper.
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  Because there is another dimension of divine
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  intervention that we do not always recognize
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  while we are experiencing it What if God's intervention
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  was not only about what was happening around
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  you? What if all along God's intervention was
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  also about what was happening inside you? What
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  if you were asking God to change the situation
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  while God was using the situation to change you?
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  What if you were asking God to remove the fire?
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  while God was using the fire to remove something
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  from you. What if you were asking God to protect
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  the vision while God understood that before he
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  could entrust you with the fullness of that vision,
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  he needed to refine the person carrying it? That
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  is where this new journey begins. Refined for
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  a purpose. First, Peter chapter one speaks about
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  trials and compares the testing of our faith
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  to gold being refined by fire. Think about that
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  picture. Gold is valuable before it enters the
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  fire. The fire does not create the value of the
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  gold. The fire reveals it. The fire separates
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  what belongs from what does not belong. The goldsmith
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  does not place gold into the furnace because
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  he hates it. He places it there because he knows
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  what it can become when the impurities are removed.
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  And perhaps this is where many of us misunderstand
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  certain seasons with God. We interpret every
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  fire primarily through the question, How do I
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  get out of this? God may be asking, what needs
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  to come out of you while you are in this? Those
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  are two very different questions. We are looking
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  for an exit. God may be producing transformation.
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  We are looking for relief. God may be developing
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  character. We are looking for the enemy to move.
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  God may be revealing something within us that
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  cannot accompany us into the place He is taking
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  us. And that means the greatest miracle of your
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  valley. may not always be that the valley disappeared.
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  The greatest miracle may be the person who eventually
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  walked out of it. There are things about ourselves
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  that prosperity may never reveal. Comfort can
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  hide them. Success can cover them. Position can
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  conceal them. Applause can make us ignore them.
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  But pressure has a strange way of exposing what
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  is inside us. You don't always know the depth
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  of your impatience until God makes you wait.
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  You don't always recognize your anger until someone
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  continually provokes you. You don't always understand
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  your dependence upon people's approval until
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  people misunderstand you. You don't always recognize
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  pride while everybody is celebrating you. You
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  don't always recognize uncontrolled desire until
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  something you desperately want is placed within
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  reach and God says no. You don't always know
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  whether you trust God until everything you were
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  trusting begins disappearing. This is why Deuteronomy
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  chapter 8 is so powerful. Moses tells Israel
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  that God led them through the wilderness to humble
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  them and test them to know what was in their
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  heart. The wilderness revealed Israel, their
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  complaints, their fears, their appetites, their
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  unbelief, their impatience, their tendency to
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  return mentally to Egypt whenever following God
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  became uncomfortable. Egypt had physically released
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  them, but parts of Egypt were still living inside
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  them. And perhaps that was one of the purposes
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  of the wilderness. God was not simply taking
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  Israel out of Egypt. God was taking Egypt out
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  of Israel. And maybe somebody listening to me
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  right now is discovering the same thing. God
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  delivered you from something physically, but
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  now he is dealing with what that experience left
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  inside you. The habits. The mentality. The insecurity.
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  The anger. The fear. The appetite. The relationships.
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  The patterns. The reactions. The compromises.
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  Because geographical deliverance is not always
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  internal deliverance. You can leave Egypt and
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  still carry Egypt. You can leave the relationship
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  and still carry its wounds. You can leave the
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  environment and still carry its habits. You can
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  leave the old season and still think like the
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  person you were in the old season. and God loves
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  you too much to allow yesterday's impurities
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  to destroy tomorrow's assignment. This changes
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  how we understand divine intervention. Sometimes
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  God's intervention looks like deliverance, but
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  sometimes it looks like disruption. Sometimes
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  God intervenes by opening a door. Sometimes He
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  intervenes by closing one. Sometimes He brings
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  someone into your life. Sometimes his protection
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  becomes visible when someone leaves. Sometimes
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  he increases something. Sometimes he reduces
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  it. Sometimes he gives you what you prayed for.
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  And sometimes his mercy is revealed through what
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  he refuses to give you. At the moment, you may
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  call it disappointment. Later, you may call it
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  protection. At the moment, you may call it rejection.
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  Later, you may call it redirection. At the moment,
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  you may call it loss. Years later, you may look
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  back and realize, had God allowed me to continue
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  in that direction, I don't know what I would
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  have become. Because God sees consequences that
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  we cannot see. He sees where a relationship is
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  going. He sees where a habit is going. He sees
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  where uncontrolled anger is going. He sees where
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  pride is going. He sees where compromise is going.
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  He sees where an appetite is going. He sees where
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  one seemingly insignificant seed can eventually
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  lead. And because God sees the harvest while
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  we are still looking at the seed, sometimes his
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  intervention feels painful. There is another
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  dimension we need to understand. Sometimes God
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  is protecting more than you, because your life
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  is connected to other lives. Your decisions affect
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  other people. If you are married, your decisions
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  affect your spouse. If you have children, your
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  decisions affect your children. If you lead people,
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  your decisions affect those who trust your leadership.
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  If God has given you a ministry, your decisions
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  can affect people you have never even met. If
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  God has given you a vision, your character can
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  influence whether that vision becomes a blessing
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  or eventually becomes a source of destruction.
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  So perhaps some of God's correction has been
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  bigger than you. Perhaps some of his restraint
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  has been bigger than you. Perhaps some doors
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  had to close because God saw a family on the
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  other side of your decision. Perhaps some relationships
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  had to be exposed because God saw a marriage.
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  Perhaps some habits had to be confronted because
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  God saw a ministry. Perhaps some pride had to
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  be broken because God saw the authority He intended
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  to place in your hands. Perhaps some impulsiveness
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  had to be disciplined because God saw decisions
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  you would someday have the power to make. you
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  thought God was dealing with today. God was protecting
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  tomorrow. When God gives someone a vision, there
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  is God's part, and there is the responsibility
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  of the person receiving it. God calls. God gives
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  grace. God empowers. God opens doors. God provides.
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  God anoints. But the person carrying that assignment
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  must learn how to steward what God has placed
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  in their hands. And this is where many people
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  misunderstand anointing. Anointing does not eliminate
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  responsibility. A person can be gifted and still
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  need discipline. A person can be called and still
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  need correction. A person can have tremendous
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  spiritual experiences and still need character
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  development. A person can preach powerfully and
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  still need to govern their tongue. A person can
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  pray fervently and still need to govern their
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  appetite. A person can know scripture and still
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  need boundaries. A person can carry revelation
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  and still need accountability. Because the question
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  is not merely, can God use me? God has used imperfect
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  people throughout scripture. The deeper question
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  is, can my character sustain what God wants to
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  entrust to me? And that brings us to something
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  we are going to explore deeply throughout this
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  season. Discipline protects vision. But I want
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  to make something very clear. When I speak about
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  self -discipline, I am not talking about becoming
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  independent from God. I am saying the exact opposite.
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  Galatians chapter 5 identifies self -control
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  as fruit of the spirit. Christian discipline
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  is not simply human willpower. It is a surrendered
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  person cooperating with the Holy Spirit. There
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  are battles you cannot win simply by telling
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  yourself to be stronger. There are appetites
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  that require spiritual transformation. There
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  are wounds that require healing. There are patterns
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  that require the renewing of your mind. There
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  are temptations from which sometimes the wisest
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  spiritual decision is not to prove how strong
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  you are, but to run. We need the Holy Spirit.
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  But dependence upon the Holy Spirit does not
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  eliminate our responsibility to discipline ourselves.
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  Paul understood this. In 1 Corinthians chapter
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  9, Paul describes athletes exercising self -control
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  because they are pursuing a prize. Then he says
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  something remarkable, I discipline my body and
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  keep it under control. This is Paul, an apostle,
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  a man carrying extraordinary revelation, a man
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  who encountered Christ, a man used mightily by
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  God. And yet Paul understood, what God has entrusted
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  to me is too valuable for me to live without
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  discipline. That is maturity. Self -discipline
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  is learning to tell yourself no, because there
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  is something greater to which you have already
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  said yes. I can respond, but I don't have to.
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  I can say it, but I don't have to. I can go there,
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  but I don't have to. I can entertain this, but
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  I don't have to. I can satisfy this appetite,
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  but I don't have to. Why? Because there is something
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  greater before me. There is a calling. There
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  is a family. There is a purpose. There is a relationship
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  with God. There is a vision. There is something
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  I refuse to sacrifice for temporary satisfaction.
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  That is discipline. And sometimes, God allows
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  pressure because pressure reveals weaknesses
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  before greater responsibility arrives. Imagine
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  carrying something extremely valuable in a vessel
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  with a hidden crack. As long as the vessel remains
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  empty, the crack may never matter. But once something
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  valuable is poured into it the weakness becomes
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  dangerous Sometimes God exposes the crack before
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  he pours more into the vessel and We become angry
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  about the exposure But exposure may actually
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  be mercy God may reveal your anger before greater
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  authority magnifies it God may confront your
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  appetite before greater access feeds it God may
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  expose your need for approval before greater
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  visibility enslaves you to applause. God may
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  confront financial irresponsibility before greater
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  resources arrive. God may expose unhealthy relationships
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  before they gain access to what He is building
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  through you. God may teach you to govern your
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  tongue before He gives your words greater influence,
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  because whatever remains ungoverned at one level
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  can become destructive at another. The greater
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  the assignment, the more dangerous unmanaged
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  character becomes. Psalm 119 .71 contains one
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  of those statements that only makes sense after
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  you have walked with God for some time. It is
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  good for me that I was afflicted, that I might
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  learn your statutes. Notice the perspective.
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  He does not necessarily call the affliction pleasant.
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  He recognizes what the affliction produced. There
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  are things you survive. that you would never
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  volunteer to experience again, but you can still
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  look back and say, God used it. I wouldn't choose
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  the betrayal, but God used it to teach me discernment.
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  I wouldn't choose the disappointment, but God
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  used it to detach my identity from people's approval.
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  I wouldn't choose the waiting, but God used it
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  to develop patience. I wouldn't choose the humiliation,
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  but God used it to confront pride. I wouldn't
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  choose the loss. but God used it to show me what
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  really mattered. I wouldn't choose the valley,
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  but I meant a version of God in the valley that
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  I had only heard about on the mountain. And perhaps
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  that is what the psalmist means. It was good
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  for me, not because pain is good, not because
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  betrayal is good, not because injustice is good,
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  not because suffering itself is holy. but because
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  God was able to take something painful and produce
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  something valuable through it. So now we return
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  to our question. What if the intervention was
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  about you? What if God was not simply fighting
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  what was trying to destroy you? What if He was
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  also confronting something within you that could
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  eventually destroy what He intended to build
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  through you? What if the closed door saved you?
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  What if the delay matured you? What if the rejection
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  redirected you? What if the exposure protected
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  you? What if the separation purified your environment?
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  What if the pressure revealed something you desperately
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  needed to see? What if the valley developed the
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  discipline you will need on the mountain? What
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  if the fire was not evidence that God had abandoned
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  his purpose? What if the fire was evidence that
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  God was preparing you for it? This changes the
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  prayer Instead of only praying God take me out
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  of this We begin praying God Show me what you
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  are producing in me through this Instead of only
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  asking when will this end? We begin asking who
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  am I becoming? Instead of only asking God to
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  change our circumstances, we become willing to
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  say, God, if there is something in me that cannot
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  go where you are taking me, reveal it. If there
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  is something weakening my discipline, expose
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  it. If there is something contaminating my character,
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  remove it. If there is a relationship influencing
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  me away from your purpose, give me discernment.
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  If there is an appetite attempting to govern
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  me, teach me self -control. If there is pride,
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  confront it. If there is fear, heal it. If there
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  is compromise, uncover it. Refine me. That is
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  a dangerous prayer, because God may answer it.
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  But perhaps it is also one of the most important
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  prayers a person carrying purpose can ever pray.
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  There comes a moment when you stop asking only,
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  when will this fire end? And you begin asking,
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  who is God forming me to become through it? Because
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  when gold comes through the refining process,
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  the testimony is not simply that the gold survived
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  the furnace. Something that did not belong was
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  removed. Something hidden was exposed. Something
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  valuable became purer. And maybe that is where
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  some of us are right now. We have been so focused
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  on surviving the season, that we have not stopped
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  long enough to recognize the person God is producing
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  through the season. You survived, but you also
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  learned. You cried, but you also grew. You lost
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  some things, but perhaps you also discovered
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  what you never needed. Some people walked away,
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  but perhaps their departure revealed relationships
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  you had been depending upon more than you realized.
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  Some doors closed, but perhaps those doors were
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  leading somewhere Your purpose could not afford
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  to go. Some things were exposed. And although
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  the exposure hurt, perhaps God allowed you to
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  see now what could have destroyed much more later.
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  Because sometimes exposure is intervention. Sometimes
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  correction is intervention. Sometimes separation
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  is intervention. Sometimes delay is intervention.
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  Sometimes the fire itself becomes an instrument
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  of intervention. And that brings us back to the
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  question with which we began. What if the intervention
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  was about you? What if you were asking God to
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  change what was happening around you while God
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  was changing what was happening inside you? What
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  if you were asking God to remove your enemies
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  while God was removing something from your character?
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  What if you were asking God to open the door
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  while God was developing the discipline you would
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  need once that door opened? What if you were
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  asking God to enlarge your territory while God
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  was strengthening your character so your territory
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  would not eventually destroy you? What if you
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  were asking God to protect your vision while
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  God was refining the person who would have to
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  carry that vision? Maybe the intervention was
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  never only about the battle. Maybe it was also
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  about the person standing in the battle. Because
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  God knows something we often forget, a great
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  vision carried by an undisciplined person can
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  become dangerous. A great gift without character
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  can become destructive. Greater influence without
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  self -control can magnify weaknesses that once
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  appeared insignificant. Greater authority without
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  humility can damage people. Greater access without
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  boundaries can create opportunities for compromise.
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  Greater visibility without spiritual maturity
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  can turn applause into an addiction and perhaps
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  This is why God sometimes deals with the vessel
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  before expanding the assignment. You are asking
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  for more. God may be preparing you to carry more.
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  You are asking for expansion. God may be building
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  capacity. You are asking for the promise. God
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  may be preparing the person who must live inside
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  that promise. And suddenly the fire begins to
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  look different. If God has allowed you to walk
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  through a refining season, don't come out carrying
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  everything you took into it. Don't carry the
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  same anger. Don't carry the same uncontrolled
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  appetite. Don't carry the same dangerous relationships.
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  Don't carry the same need for approval. Don't
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  carry the same impulsiveness. Don't carry the
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  same compromises. Don't carry the same habits.
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  Don't carry the same inability to say no. Don't
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  carry the same reactions that repeatedly create
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  unnecessary battles. Don't simply ask God to
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  bring you out. Ask Him to bring something out
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  of you. There are things that cannot accompany
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  your purpose. There are habits that cannot accompany
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  your assignment. There are relationships that
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  cannot have unlimited access to your future.
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  There are appetites that cannot be permitted
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  to govern your decisions. There are reactions
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  that must come under control. There are words
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  you must learn not to speak. There are places
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  you must learn not to go. There are invitations
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  you must learn to decline. There are battles
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  you must learn not to fight. There are things
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  you may have the freedom to do, but must develop
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  the wisdom not to do. Because maturity is not
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  simply knowing what you can do. Maturity is understanding
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  what your purpose cannot afford. That is discipline.
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  Discipline protects what God is building. Self
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  -discipline is not punishment. Self -discipline
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  is protection. It is the ability to look at something
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  you desire and say, you are not worth what I
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  would have to sacrifice to have you. It is the
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  ability to control a temporary appetite because
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  you recognize a permanent assignment. It is the
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  ability to govern a moment. because you understand
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  that a moment can affect years. It is the ability
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  to walk away from something attractive because
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  you can see something greater ahead. And for
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  the believer, we do not do this alone. We need
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  the Holy Spirit. We need His conviction. We need
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  His strength. We need His wisdom. We need His
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  power working inside us. Because biblical self
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  -control is not simply human determination. Self
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  -control is fruit produced by a life surrendered
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  to the Spirit of God. But surrender requires
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  cooperation. God can warn you. You still have
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  to listen. God can convict you. You still have
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  to respond. God can reveal the relationship.
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  You still have to establish the boundary. God
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  can expose the habit. You still have to stop
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  feeding it. God can reveal the seed. You still
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  have to stop watering it. God can show you the
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  danger. You still have to walk away. And maybe
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  this is part of what the fire has been teaching
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  you. There are seasons we ask God to explain
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  while we are living through them, but sometimes
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  understanding comes later. One day, you may look
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  backward and realize, that season saved me. Not
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  because everything that happened to you was good.
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  Not because everybody who hurt you was sent by
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  God. Not because injustice suddenly became righteous.
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  But because God, in His providence, refused to
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  waste what happened. He used it. He taught you.
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  He corrected you. He exposed things. He removed
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  things. He strengthened things. He redirected
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  things. He showed you yourself. And somewhere
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  along the journey, the words of the psalmist
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  became your testimony. It was good for me that
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  I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
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  You may discover that the fire you once begged
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  God to remove became the classroom where He taught
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  you how to carry what you had been praying for.
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  And perhaps then, you will understand. God was
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  not destroying you. God was developing you. God
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  was not abandoning the vision. God was protecting
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  it. God was not finished with you. God was refining
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  you. So if you are walking through the fire today,
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  I want you to ask God a different question. Not
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  only, God, when are you bringing me out? But,
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  God, what are you bringing out of me? What needs
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  to change? What needs to die? What needs to grow?
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  What needs to be confronted? What needs to be
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  healed? What needs to be disciplined? What needs
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  to be surrendered? What relationship needs examination?
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  What seed needs to stop receiving water? What
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  reaction needs to come under the authority of
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  the Holy Spirit? What part of my character needs
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  strengthening before you entrust me with what
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  is next? God, don't allow me to survive the fire
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  and miss the refinement. Don't allow me to leave
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  the valley unchanged. Don't allow me to become
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  so obsessed with defeating the enemy that I fail
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  to recognize what you are developing within me.
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  If you are preparing me for something greater,
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  then prepare all of me. My heart, my mind, my
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  appetites, my relationships, my reactions, my
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  words, my decisions, my character, my discipline,
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  my private life, my public life. Refine me from
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  the inside out, because I don't simply want to
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  arrive at the purpose. I want to become the person
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  capable of carrying it. And maybe that is the
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  revelation God wanted us to see all along. You
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  thought the greatest testimony would be, God
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  brought me out of the fire. But perhaps an even
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  greater testimony will be, look at what God brought
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  out of me through the fire. The fire did not
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  cancel the purpose. The valley did not destroy
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  the vision. The delay did not mean God had forgotten
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  you. God was working. God was shaping. God was
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  correcting. God was protecting. God was preparing.
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  You were being refined. And you were not being
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  refined without reason. You were being refined
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  for a purpose. This is Pamoja Ministry. And in
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  our next conversation we are going deeper into
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  the fire itself. Because the fire does something
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  that comfort often cannot do. It reveals what
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  is really there. Conversation two, the fire reveals
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  what success can hide. Until next time, may God
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  give us the courage not merely to ask him to
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  change our circumstances, but to surrender ourselves
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  to what he desires to change within us.